Majority of the 63 incoming partylist representatives in the 20th Congress do not represent the marginalized and the underrepresented, according to a poll watchdog.
Based on Kontra Daya’s data on partylist groups released in February 2025, 40 incoming partylist representatives, or 63.49 percent, were flagged as their partylist groups either belonged to political dynasties, big businesses, or had military or police connections.
Aside from this, the partylist groups had nominees with pending corruption cases, dubious advocacies, or there was limited or no information on them.
Notably, the two partylist groups whose proclamations were suspended by the Commission on Elections (Comelec) over pending cases had also been flagged by watchdog Kontra Daya for alleged links to the military and big businesses.
The Comelec suspended the proclamation of the Duterte Youth and Bagong Henerasyon partylists due to pending cases, which the poll body promised to resolve on or by 30 June.
Of the 54 partylist groups the Comelec declared as winners in the recent partylist race, 34 were flagged by Kontra Daya.
Twenty belong to political dynasties, nine have big businesses, four have police or military connections, three have dubious activities, and there was insufficient information on one.
“Let us exert public pressure on the 20th Congress to pass the anti-dynasty law and amend the partylist law to make the latter truly representative of the marginalized and the underrepresented,” said Danilo Arao, convenor of Kontra Daya.
“The rich and powerful’s hijacking of the partylist system should stop,” Arao stressed.