Comelec disqualifies 60 party-list groups

MANILA - Commission on Elections (Comelec) Chairman Sixto Brillantes today revealed that it has disqualified about 60 of the existing party-list groups accredited by the poll body for the May 2010 elections.

Brillantes said these include existing accredited party-list groups who were excluded after failing to win 2% of the votes cast in the last 2 elections.

This means that from a high of 184 existing party-list groups, only 113 remain.

However, the Comelec is still entertaining the applications of 172 new groups.

Comelec has not yet released the names of the disqualified parties.

Documents obtained by ABS-CBN show that the resolution effectively excluding the 60 groups was promulgated April 2012, about a month before the  Comelec started its review of new and old party-list groups in May 2012.

The Comelec will come up with a list of accredited groups by the end of the month.

Brillantes said the en banc will meet daily starting tomorrow to go over the rest of the accreditations.

Separately, Brillantes revealed they have dismissed with finality 16 to 17 groups. These are the groups who did not seek a reconsideration of their denials at the division level of the Comelec.

Meantime, Brillantes reminded candidates who will be filing their candidacies next week to read the form very carefully and attach their certficates of nomination and acceptance upon filing.

Candidates for senator will file at the Comelec main office while candidates for local offices will file at the local Comelec.

Brillantes said failure to do so will register them as an independent.

Brillantes also said the Comelec will accept certficates of candidacy for the new province of Nueva Camarines should the bill dividing Camarines Sur become a law and it wins in a plebiscite.

Brillantes expressed hopes that the 2013 mid-term elections will be peaceful, revealing that they may not declare the Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) as an area of concern.

Brillantes noted that politicians in Basilan and Sulu have started to talk peace, which leaves only Maguindanao and Lanao del Sur as possible areas of concern.