Comelec proclaims winning partylists

The Commission on Elections (Comelec) on Monday proclaimed the 52 partylist groups that won seats in the House of Representatives in the recent midterm polls.

In accordance with the Constitution, 63 House seats are reserved for partylist representatives, comprising 20 percent of the House membership. The nominees of the winning partylist groups will occupy the seats.

“Of the 63, we have three partylists entitled to three seats each, and there are also three partylists entitled to two seats each,” Comelec Chair George Garcia said in a press briefing.

The rest of the winning partylist groups will get one seat each to fill all the 63 seats available, he said.

Based on the National Certificates of Canvass released by the National Board of Canvassers (NBOC), Akbayan garnered the most votes with 2,779,621.

The first three nominees of Akbayan are Chel Diokno, Percival Cendana and Dadah Kiram Ismula.

Akbayan was followed by Duterte Youth (2,338,564) which has Drixie Mae Suarez Cardema, Berlin Baday Lingwa and Rod Godfrey Waggawag Bawalan as its first three nominees, and Tingog (1,822,708) which has Julian Romualdez, Jude Acidre and Happy Calatrava.

The three partylists poised to get two seats each are 4Ps (1,469,571), ACT-CIS (1,239,930) and Ako Bicol (1,073,119).

Comelec also proclaimed the following partylists: Uswag Ilonggo, Solid North, Trabaho, Cibac, Malasakit@Bayanihan, Senior Citizens, PPP, ML, FPJ Panday Bayanihan, United Senior Citizens, 4K, LPGMA, COOP-NATCCO, Ako Bisaya, CWS, Pinoy Workers, AGAP, Asenso Pinoy, AGIMAT, TGP, SAGIP, Alona, 1-Rider, Kamanggagawa, GP (Galing sa Puso), Kamalayan, Bicol Saro, ACT Teachers, One COOP, KM Ngayon Na, Abamin, TUCP, Kabataan, Magbubukid, 1Tahanan, Ako Ilocano Ako, Manila Teachers, Nanay, Kapuso PM, SSS-GSIS Pensyonado, Dumpter PTDA, Abang Lingkod, Pusong Pinoy, Swerte and PHILRECA.

A total of 155 partylist groups participated in the polls, with over 41.6 million votes cast nationwide.

Those who failed to get two percent of the votes in two consecutive elections will have their accreditation automatically removed.

“If they want to join again in the next elections, they need to file for accreditation,” Garcia said in a radio interview.

Akbayan, the top partylist group in this midterm election, faced delisting after failing to secure a seat in the 2019 and 2022 elections.

It was saved, however, when the Supreme Court last year affirmed the cancellation of An Waray partylist’s registration and proclaimed Akbayan as the winner of the final partylist seat in the 2022 polls.

Monday’s partylist proclamation, which took place seven days after the polls, was the fastest since fully automated elections were implemented in 2010.

Previously, the fastest proclamation of winning partylist groups was during the 2019 midterm elections, at nine days after the polls.

The longest was in 2010, when the NBOC issued only a partial proclamation 21 days after the elections.

The Comelec, meanwhile, suspended the proclamation of the Duterte Youth and Bagong Henerasyon (BH) partylists.

“The commission, the National Board of Canvassers, suspended their proclamations due to their pending cases,” Garcia said earlier.

He said the poll body will resolve these cases on or before 30 June, when all proclaimed winners are set to assume office.

He clarified, however, that the suspension would not nullify their win.

“It would be better for all of us to resolve the pending cases first so the proclamation won’t go to waste,” he added.

Garcia said the NBOC considered the “serious allegations” raised in the petitions filed against the two groups.

Duterte Youth has had a pending case since September 2019 stemming from a petition filed by Reeya Beatrice Magtalas, Abigail Aleli Tan, Raainah Punzalan and Aundell Ross Angcos.

They argued that it was “illegal and unconstitutional” for the Duterte Youth to be allowed registration without fulfilling the publication and hearing requirements stated in the 1987 Constitution and the Partylist System Act.

Bagong Henerasyon, which garnered 319,803 votes, said in a statement that the Comelec announced the suspension “without notice, warning, or any prior information.”

“Bagong Henerasyon has not received, seen, or even heard anything about this alleged case. How can we be held accountable for an accusation that we do not even know about, has no name, no formal details, and no identity?” the partylist group said.

“Comelec rules themselves state: The proclamation shall continue unless a case has a final resolution. In this case — which to date has not had a formal citation or notice — how can the suspension be fair?” it said.