THE stalled proclamation of remaining party-list winners may prevent its representatives to secure Committee membership at the House of Representatives, a high-ranking poll official said.
"A lot of people are asking about party-list because they are concerned that they might not get the committee membership they want to be in," said Commission on Elections (Comelec) Commissioner Rene Sarmiento.
Aside from the committee membership, the poll official said another concern is on how the representatives will pay their staff.
"They might not be paid on time, there will be a gap in service," he explained.
Likewise, Sarmiento said the organizations need time to be oriented on their task as the new members of the lower house and in preparation for the opening of the 15th Congress on July 26.
"They are after the State of the Nation Address (Sona) as much as possible they want to be there."
As a matter of response in the matter, Sarmiento said: "We are already rushing to resolve the pending cases of nominees with disqualification or those with cancellation of registration."
Earlier, Comelec Chairman Jose Melo said that the party-list representatives will not be completed when the new President delivered his first Sona.
He noted that such scenario is possible since they will be conducting special elections in certain areas such as in Basilan, Lanao del Sur and Bulacan tentatively set on September 12.
Last May 31, the Comelec proclaimed the first 33 party-list congressmen but deferred the proclamation of the 11 others due to petitions against the organization.
Under the party-list system, party-list representatives must comprise 20 percent of the House membership, which is about 57 seats. (FP/Sunnex)