Party-list shake-up urged to open seats for marginalized groups

A reform on the court’s ruling regarding partylists was suggested as marginalized groups and sectors fail to secure congressional seats.

Political lawyer Dr. Tony La Viña said in a forum hosted by the University of the Philippines that party-list systems are important, especially for the representation of farmers, fishermen, and other underrepresented sectors.

“The idea of the partylist system in our country is for the underrepresented groups to enter the Congress, not for contractors, nor for political families, but the under-represented,” La Viña said.

A 2013 decision by the Supreme Court changed the political landscape of partylists, after ruling that political parties do not need to represent the marginalized group in order to join the party-list election.

“National parties or organizations and regional parties or organizations are not required to be organized along sectoral lines or to represent any ‘marginalized or underrepresented’ sectors,” the Supreme Court ruled in a decision authored by Justice Antonio Carpio.

La Viña also emphasized the importance of the party-list seats, especially with the corruption in the Congress, for the 2025 budget, which was approved under the General Appropriations Act.

If given the opportunity to change the Constitution, he recommended that the country adopt a “more mature political system in the world.”

“What they have is a mixed-district and a partylist system, because people really like voting for individuals, but every person has to vote for a political party that is collated nationally, and proportionally,” the political lawyer continued.

He cited an example in which if there are 500 seats in the congress, 250 will be chosen from a partylist, while the other 250 will be selected from the individual districts, which are also members of the political party.

House Assistant Minority Leader Arlene Brosas of Gabriela party-list has also aired the same sentiment in a radio interview, saying that it must be amended to avoid being used by big businesses, adding that there are elected partylists which are backed by the government.

Akbayan Partylist emerged as the leading group in the party-list race following the 2025 polls, securing an estimated 2.7 million votes and is projected to win at least three congressional seats.

Rep. Perci Cendaña, Akbayan’s second nominee, has already expressed their plan to file an anti-endo, and anti-political dynasty bill once the 20th Congress begins.