Senator Risa Hontiveros and the Akbayan Party on Monday filed measures seeking sweeping reforms to the Party-List System Act, aiming to bar political dynasties and government contractors from using the system to gain seats in Congress.
Hontiveros filed Senate Bill No. 1656, which proposes to prohibit political dynasties from participating in the party-list system and to ban party-list nominees and representatives from having interests in government contracts.
A counterpart measure, House Bill No. 7074, was filed by Akbayan Party-list Representatives Chel Diokno, Perci Cendaña, and Dadah Ismula, together with Dinagat Islands Rep. Kaka Bag-ao.
The measures seek to tighten eligibility requirements for party-list groups and nominees amid concerns that the system has been exploited by entrenched political interests.
“Kung gusto nilang rumaket, huwag nilang gamitin ang party-list system,” Hontiveros said, stressing that the reforms are intended to restore the system’s original purpose of giving marginalized sectors genuine representation in Congress.
“This bill aims to reclaim the voice of ordinary Filipinos who've been shut out of power because of abusive personalities who are using the partylist system as a backdoor to power,” she added.
Diokno said the bills seek to “restore the true intent of the law” and ensure that the party-list system remains a platform for sectors that lack political power.
Beyond banning political dynasties and contractors, the proposed measures would also prohibit the registration of party-list organizations patterned after television or radio programs, government assistance initiatives, or those named after public officials, celebrities, or other public figures.
The authors said this provision is meant to prevent the use of name recall and branding unrelated to sectoral advocacy.
The bills also propose removing the current three-seat cap imposed on party-list groups, which the authors said undermines proportional representation.
“The limit contradicts the Constitution’s intent to achieve proportionality,” Diokno said, adding that the cap distorts electoral outcomes by preventing parties from securing seats commensurate with their level of public support.
The filing of the measures follows recent reports and congressional inquiries highlighting alleged abuses in the party-list system.
A report by the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism found that 66 percent of party-list groups in the 19th Congress had at least one nominee belonging to an established political dynasty.
Separate congressional probes into alleged anomalies in flood control projects also showed that several party-list representatives benefited from government contracts.
Hontiveros said the proposed reforms are meant to close long-standing loopholes and prevent conflicts of interest in Congress.
“After decades of abuse and loopholes, the sweeping reforms proposed in these bills hope to hand the reins back to everyday Filipinos,” she said.