MANILA – Senator Bam Aquino has filed a measure seeking to overhaul the country’s party-list system to ensure it genuinely represents marginalized and underrepresented sectors, amid growing concerns that powerful political clans and corporations have captured the system.
Aquino said Senate Bill No. 1559, or the Party-List Reform Act, aims to restore the system to its original purpose by introducing stronger safeguards and stricter screening of party-list groups and their nominees.
“These findings underscore an urgent and undeniable truth: the party-list system is being exploited by the powerful at the expense of those it was designed to uplift,” he said Tuesday.
A 2025 report from election watchdog Kontra Daya found that 86 of the 156 accredited party-list groups in the 2025 polls were linked to political dynasties or large business interests. Of the 63 groups proclaimed for the 20th Congress, 40 were among those flagged in the study.
Under the bill, the Commission on Elections will be required to conduct evidentiary public hearings to verify that groups truly represent the sectors they claim to serve and that their nominees genuinely belong to those sectors.
The measure also extends key deadlines, including the party-list registration period from 90 to 120 days before elections and the release of the certified list of eligible groups from 60 to 90 days.
Another major proposed reform requires party-lists to submit at least six nominees, with the list approved by their highest decision-making body.
The bill disqualifies nominees who are relatives of incumbent elected officials up to the third degree, or individuals who are or have been government contractors.
Aquino said these reforms aim to reduce opportunities for corruption and prevent the system from being used as a backdoor to power by individuals and groups with resources and influence.
“Through these reforms, this measure ensures that the party-list system truly serves the many, not the few, and empowers ordinary Filipinos to have a real say in their Congress,” he said. (PNA)