Immediately after the Supreme Court ruled in favor of AKBAYAN’s petition to compel the COMELEC to reveal the list of party-list nominees, AKBAYAN Rep. Etta Rosales and AKBAYAN nominee Walden Bello went to COMELEC to obtain the names from the poll body. The names were finally divulged, a culmination of a historic legal battle that led to the triumph of democracy and transparency.

Just as we suspected, the list includes names of government officials, generals, and traditional politicians representing clans that have dominated local politics. In short, it revealed that certain party-lists are being used to perpetuate what the party-list system is supposed to correct – political inequality in favor of traditional politicians.

The list of nominees has been posted in AKBAYAN’s website and in this blog. Share it with other voters, and let us not be blindfolded by attempts to curtail our rights to information and suffrage. If you have information about the nominees, please contact us. Note that there are two groups, LYPAD and KASAPI, that did not submit to the COMELEC the names of their nominees.

We will update the list of dubious party-lists before the May 14, 2007 polls. That the COMELEC has dragged its feet and refused to investigate numerous allegations of pre-election fraud in the party-list race tells us that the poll body would not act to protect the integrity of the party-list system. However, we hope that the information we have shared – the presence of ‘admin fronts’ in the race – would help voters make an informed judgment come May 14. We will definitely file disqualification complaints against groups whose accreditation patently violates the Party-list law.

AKBAYAN wishes to thank citizens and cause-oriented groups that provided additional information on dubious party-lists. Your bravery and vigilance prove that all is not lost, that ordinary citizens have the power to push for electoral reforms. Maraming salamat!

With the Commission on Elections refusing to reveal the names of all party-list nominees, AKBAYAN urges the public to help in disclosing the names of ALL party-list nominees.

We have attempted several times to get the list from the Commission on Elections, to no avail. No en banc resolution on our request has been released yet, but several statements have been made by the COMELEC officials, including COMELEC Chair Ben Abalos himself, denying access to the list of nominees. COMELEC uses the Section 7 of the Party-list Law to rationalize this absurd policy, but clearly, no law prohibits the COMELEC from divulging the list.

The policy goes against basic democratic principles. It violates the constitutionally guaranteed right to access to public information. It contradicts existing laws, which grant citizens the right to check if candidates have complied to the basic qualifications for elective posts. It bastardizes the essence of democracy, which include accountability and transparency.

Here’s what you can do to correct this ridiculous policy:

• Inform us if you know the names of the nominees of a particular party-list organization. Send it through email (secretariat@akbayan.org) or through fax (02+9252936).
• Support our online petition to pressure the COMELEC to divulge the list.
• Pressure party-list organizations to reveal the names of their nominees.