June 3, 2001, The Philippine Star, Comelec Urged to Defer Party-List Proclamation, by Pia Lee-Brago,

June 3, 2001, The Philippine Star, Comelec Urged to Defer Party-List Proclamation, by Pia Lee-Brago,

Manila, June 3, 2001 - (STAR) The Coalition of Marginalized Party-List Groups (CPAG) urged the Commission on Elections yesterday to defer the proclamation of winners in the party-list election pending the resolution of disqualification cases filed before the Supreme Court.

CPAG, composed of 35 party-list groups, asked the poll body to set aside the proclamation of winners until after the SC has ruled on its complaint against Mamamayan Ayaw sa Droga (MAD) and other government-funded party-list groups.

The SC allowed the poll body to continue to canvass party-list votes but also ordered the Comelec not to proclaim the winners until the high court has ruled on petitions seeking to disqualify certain party-list groups."

It would be moot and academic if the Comelec would proceed with the proclamation of the winning party-list groups without deciding with finality on the qualification and accreditation of some party-list sectors whose candidacy has been questioned long before the elections," CPAG said in its manifestation.

CPAG also blamed the Comelec for allegedly bungling the first party-list elections in 1998 and failing to rectify the errors committed in the last elections.

"The Comelec failed to correct its failures and once again made the May 14 party-list elections a confusing event, which favored the incumbent party-list representatives unwittingly," the group added.

Meanwhile, CPAG member-groups signed a covenant that winning party-list groups would also adopt the legislative agenda of the groups that fail to secure a seat in the upcoming 12th Congress.