MANILA (UPDATED) - The Commission on Elections (Comelec) has included 24 more groups in the party-list elections after assessing their qualifications under the new guidelines set by the Supreme Court.
Allowed to run are:
1CARE,
BAYANI,
AAMA,
AKMA-PTM,
AKB,
AANI,
UNIMAD,
ALIM,
FIRM 24-K,
ARAL,
BUTIL,
ABROAD,
1BRO PGBI,
ARC,
1GANAP,
A BLESSED,
ABP,
ARARO,
APEC,
AKO BAHAY,
AGRI,
AANGAT TAYO,
GREEN FORCE, and
KAKUSA.
Mikey Arroyo's Ang Galing Pinoy party-list group and 11 other party-list groups have been disqualified from joining the process.
The other parties disqualified are:
A-IPRA,
ABANG LINGKOD,
ANAD,
ANG GALING PINOY,
ATONG PAGLAUM,
SENIOR CITIZENS SMART,
1ST KABAGIS,
BANTAY,
COCOFED, and
BINHI.
The accreditation of KAP, meantime, was not cancelled although it was not allowed to participate in the 2013 elections.
The Comelec will also set for hearing the accreditation of three more groups for Thursday. These are Pacyaw, 1Utak and Pasang Masda.
These three groups’ accreditation divided the Comelec en banc, with a 2-2 voting.
Brillantes said he did not join in the voting. Instead, they asked newly-appointed Comelec commissioners Al Parreño and Luie Guia to break the tie.
Information drive needed
Kontra Daya's Renato Reyes, meanwhile, urged the Comelec to let voters know which party-list groups have been disqualified.
"Comelec must embark on a massive information drive, down to the local government units, to tell voters that these groups are disqualified and should not be voted lest the votes be considered invalid," he said.
He also believes that more party-list groups should have been disqualified.
"The decision to accredit some while disqualifying others may again raise questions. Hindi lang dapat 11 yung nadisqualify diyan," Reyes said.
"Kontra Daya's motion to Comelec listed at least 35 should remain disqualified. We don't know how the comelec arrived at their decision," he added. – from reports by RG Cruz, ABS-CBN News