THERE are party-list groups whose nominees are government officials, including those believed to be supportive of the President despite their controversial removal from public office.
The first nominee of Pambansang Nagkakaisa sa Paggawa at Agrikultura is Socrates Piñol, Provincial Board member of North Cotabato and brother of Agriculture Secretary Emmanuel Piñol.
The first and third nominees of Gawing Una Tagumpay ng Ordinaryong Mamamayan are worth noting. The first nominee, Rex Anthony Villegas, is a former Board member of Nayong Filipino who was fired due to a complaint by another Board member who happens to be a niece of President Duterte. The third nominee, Maria Katrina Nicole Contacto, is a legal counsel of Duterte in his disqualification case in the 2016 elections. She is also chair of the Youth Affairs Committee of PDP-Laban.
The Hugpong Federal Movement of the Philippines has as first nominee Peter Laviña, former administrator of the National Irrigation Administration (NIA) and who resigned amid corruption allegations.
Similarly, Abakada party-list’s first nominee is Jonathan dela Cruz, former Board member of the Government Service Insurance System (GSIS) who was fired due to alleged contract anomalies.
The first nominee of Bahay para sa Pamilyang Pilipino, Inc., Naella Rose Bainto-Aguinaldo, was appointed member of the Career Executive Service Board by Duterte in 2017. She also happens to be the wife of Commission on Audit (COA) chairperson Michael Aguinaldo.
For the Global Workers and Family Federation, the first nominee is Ermie Lagman Garon, a commissioner of the Philippine Commission on Women (PCW) representing the business and industry sector and a member of the People’s National Movement for Federalism.
The first nominee of the Rebolusyonaryong Alyansang Makabansa Inc. (RAM) is Aloysia Tiongson Lim, wife of Metro Manila Development Authority chair Danilo Lim.
Based on its public pronouncements, the Duterte Youth Party-list is apparently supportive of the President and runs on a platform of countering another youth party-list group that is known to be critical of the administration. It is the only party-list group that has used “Duterte” in its name. The group is also associated with Duterte appointee Ronald Cardema of the National Youth Commission.
Commission on elections (Comelec) spokesperson James Jimenez said in a media interview that the poll body scrapped the review of party-list groups due to the ruling of the Supreme Court in 2013, i.e., that nominees do not have to be part of the marginalized and underrepresented sectors they claim to represent.
However, we say that Comelec can still look into several issues related to the party-list groups. For example, the poll body can conduct a public hearing on party-list groups and the track records of their nominees in order to clarify their decision to run in the 2019 elections.
Some nominees appear to have become overnight members and nominees of their party-list groups, particularly during the period of the filing of candidacies, thus raising questions regarding their track record and advocacy. (Kontra Daya)