A reform of the Supreme Court’s ruling on partylist representation was recently proposed, as marginalized groups and sectors continue to struggle to secure congressional seats.
In a forum hosted by the University of the Philippines, political lawyer Dr. Tony La Viña stressed the importance of the partylist system in ensuring representation for farmers, fisherfolk and other underrepresented sectors.
“The idea of the party list system in our country is to allow underrepresented groups to enter Congress — not contractors or political dynasties, but the marginalized,” La Viña said.
A 2013 Supreme Court ruling significantly altered the political landscape of the partylist system. In a decision authored by Justice Antonio Carpio, the Court held that political parties no longer need to represent marginalized groups to participate in partylist elections.
“National or regional parties or organizations are not required to be organized along sectoral lines, or to represent any marginalized or underrepresented sectors,” the decision stated.
La Viña emphasized the continued importance of partylist seats, especially in light of issues such as corruption in Congress, citing the 2025 national budget passed under the General Appropriations Act as an example.
Should there be an opportunity to amend the Constitution, La Viña recommended the adoption of a “more mature political system,” as seen in other parts of the world.
“In those systems, they use a mixed-member proportional representation model. Voters select both an individual candidate and a political party that has national and proportional representation,” he explained.
He illustrated the concept by saying that in a 500-seat legislature, 250 seats would come from partylist representation while the remaining 250 would be filled by district representatives, all of whom are also affiliated with national political parties.
House Assistant Minority Leader Arlene Brosas of the Gabriela Partylist echoed similar sentiments in an earlier interview. She said the system must be amended to prevent it from being exploited by large businesses and political elites, noting that some winning partylists have government backing.
In the recent 2025 elections, Akbayan Party list emerged as the leading group, garnering approximately 2.7 million votes and projected to win at least three congressional seats.
Rep. Perci Cendaña, Akbayan’s second nominee, has already announced plans to file bills targeting labor contractualization (endo) and political dynasties once the 20th Congress convenes.