Note: Please also read how BUHAY responded to our opposition of their party-list accreditation in COMELEC.
The party-list system of representation is broken. Want proof? Consider the case of BUHAY party-list.
According to COMELEC, you have to be a member of the sector you claim to represent. BUHAY claims to represent “the unborn, the sick, the disabled and others not capable of protecting themselves alone, through observance of their basic right to live.” Never mind being sick and disabled and incapable of self-protection (all at the same time!). Is even a single BUHAY representative unborn?
Even if we grant for rhetorical purposes that every BUHAY representative is unborn, they would still be disqualified for one simple reason: the unborn is not a sector recognized by COMELEC. This fact was repeated several times at BUHAY’s accreditation hearing at COMELEC yesterday.
And every time the COMELEC official mentioned this, the BUHAY spokesperson would answer the same way: BUHAY representatives actually represent its own political party, which is the one marginalized and underrepresented.
Setting aside how self-serving this reasoning is, does BUHAY actually think that a political party should be considered a sector of society? Let’s humor them a little and pretend that it is. Why is BUHAY party marginalized?
According to their spokesperson, it’s because aside from their party-list seats, they haven’t won any major political positions (senator, president, etc.) in the past elections, so they aren’t a major political party. And according to BUHAY, that means they are marginalized. Poor BUHAY. Since 2004, they’ve only won 7 seats in the House of Representatives.
That’s right. Seven seats in almost as many years have been allotted to the unborn representatives of BUHAY party, each representing the unborn citizens of the Philippines, and of course, that other marginalized and underrepresented sector, the BUHAY party itself. If that can’t convince you that the party-list system is a joke, I don’t know what can.
But there’s hope. COMELEC has been reviewing the current party-list candidates, and from the way they’ve been conducting these accreditation hearings — I’ve witnessed a few — they seem to mean business. I just hope it translates to disqualification, especially in the case of BUHAY and Ang Prolife — another conservative Catholic religious group trying to disguise itself as a political organization.
When we opposed Ang Prolife’s application, I thought nothing could ever beat the absurdity of their claiming to represent OFWs and “the structure of the Filipino family.” Well played, BUHAY party. Well played.
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Note: This post isn’t meant to be a comprehensive opposition to BUHAY’s application. We’ll leave that to our formal opposition, which we were given 3 days to file, and will post as soon as it’s available. For now, check out Kontradaya’s reasons for objecting to the accreditation of BUHAY (follow the link for other party-list groups they argue should also be disqualified):
Buhay claims to represent the following sectors: the unborn, the sick, the disabled and others not capable of protecting themselves alone, through observance of their basic right to live.
However, none of its present representatives in Congress, and nominees for 2013 elections belong to these sectors.
First representative Mariano Velarde, Jr., the son of El Shaddai’s Mike Velarde, has a personal net worth of P53.326 million for 2011. He does not belong to any of the marginalized and underrepresented sectors Buhay claims to represent. He is not unborn, sick, disabled, nor incapable of protecting himself.
So is second representative Irwin Tieng, whose net worth amounts to P20.054 and whose family owns Solar Sports. He does not belong to any of the marginalized and underrepresented sectors Buhay claims to represent. He is not unborn, sick, disabled, nor incapable of protecting himself.
Second nominee for the 2013 elections is Jose L. Atienza, more famously known as Manila Mayor Lito Atienza. Mayor Atienza served as Manila Mayor from 1998 to 2007. Previous to that, he served as Manila Vice Mayor from 1992 to 1998. He also held other high positions in government, being appointed by former President Gloria Arroyo as the Secretary of Department of Environment and Natural Resources.
Clearly Mayor Atienza can compete for a position in Congress through regular elections. This is in addition to the fact that he does not belong to any of the sectors that Buhay claims to represent, and neither is he marginalized and underrepresented.
ALL CAPS AT MARAMING EXCLAMATION POINTS PARA INTENSE!!!!
Ang BUHAY ang nagsulong na alisin ang Death Penalty sa bansa. And as far as I know they are doing their jobs in the congress as compared to other party-lists.
Anybody noticed the Buhay partylist tarpaulins all over the city? Holy hell, this time they're using a picture of the late Pope John Paul II !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
By now this cult has broken every rule of the party-list system:
First, they're BILLIONAIRES!!! How can they claim to be marginalized?
And now their nominee is LITO F**KING ATIENZA????
Second, none of their supposed "sectors" are included in the Constitution.
Third, they used to be an 'adjunct of the Government' during the Arroyo presidency, as their officers and leaders were simultaneously holding power as the Administrator and staff of the Light Rail Transit.
Fourth, and most obvious, they are a freaking RELIGIOUS GROUP!!!!!!!! Last time they had Mike Velarde on their posters, now, they got POPE JOHN PAUL THE SECOND!!!!!!!!!
Hey COMELEC!!!!!!!!! WAKE THE F**K UP!!!!!!!!!!!
Why don't you (filipino freethinkers), as the complainants in this case in the Comelec, ask that Commissioner Rene Sarmiento excluse himself from the deliberations over Buhay? He is frequently seen standing behind Brother Mike onstage during those televised "prayer rallies" and El Shaddai members themselves would brag that Sarmiento would frequently visit and eat lunch with Velarde in the El Shaddai headquarters in Amorsolo st, Makati. SICK!!!