Party Lists Used as a BackDoor by Traditional Politicians to Congress

With so many party list vying for positions in congress, it is no doubt that it is now being used as an alternative way for some traditional politicians to return to Congress. This could be used by some groups to lobby for their personal interests. It is noted that some of these so called "Party List" were not actually representing the actual minority or underprivileged sector. There is one party which was able to place more than 10 million TV ad but they represent poor children.

The head of the Parish Pastoral Council for Responsible Voting (PPCRV), Henrietta de Villa urged voters to be careful in voting for party lists by examining the background of their representatives. "Party-list now has deviated from the intention of the law, the spirit of the law ... so the real marginalized [groups] lose a chance to win. She contends that there are many bogus party list who were able to get the approval of the Comelec.

This would just mean that the chances of legitimate party lists representing the marginalized sector are affected. other groups such as Kontra Daya also filed a petition to the Comelec to remove from the list some of the party list associated to the administration. These are Batang Iwas Droga (BIDA), Adhikain ng mga Dakilang Anak ng Maharlika (ADAM), Agbiag Timpuyog Ilocano (AGBIAG), Babae para sa Kaunalara (BABAE KA), League of Youth for Peace and Development (LYPAD), and Kalahi Advocates for Overseas Filipinos (KALAHI). There are many others who are known to be founded and managed by some politicians especially those who already served the maximum term in Congress.

However, the Comelec already printed the ballots including the party lists being in question. They said that if these group will be disqualified, the votes casted for them will be disregarded.

Merging of Lakas and Kampi: Far from Reality

The efforts of some Kampi official to merge with Lakas is far from reality. Although they have agreed on some issues but again when it comes to political agenda, they have different objectives. Another issue raised by Lakas officials is to make them the dominant party in the merging and Kampi will just be part of the minority.

One obvious reason why Lakas is not letting go of Kampi as an ally is the resource and machinery they can provide. Although Kampi officials are trying to get more support from other Lakas members specially in the local politics. Shifting of political affiliations will not be surprising specially if there will be some promises given as what was made before. In the philippine politics, our politicians will only shift allegiance if they can get something in return. If Kampi will give what they want, maybe they will get the majority in the coalition. Again this would mean a lot of money.

Another problem with the merging is in the local level where there are aspiring candidates for both party. It already happened last election where both Kampi and Lakas have their own candidates in the local level which caused some problems in the coalition. although they were able to surpass this issues but this coming election in 2010, it is expected that more cases will be occurring. This will test how strong the coalition is.

As of this moment, no one can tell if the merging will take place, would it be sooner? or it will just be a dream of Kampi.