AN WARAY Party-List is a democratic multi-sectoral party-list organization that envisions a just, progressive and peaceful Filipino society characterized

by its principles 'katilingban' [sense of community], 'kahimyang' [peace] and kauswagan [progress] through the adoption of a community-based and peace oriented development agenda. The name AN WARAY was adopted by its founders. AN WARAY Party-List was founded in 2001 by Metro Manila-based Filipinos whose ethnic roots are from the Eastern Visayas. Our representation and membership, however, is national in scope and character. Organizations and members who are part of AN WARAY come from as far as the northern-most part of Luzon to the islands of Southern Mindanao. The name AN WARAY was also used to characterize all poor and marginalized sectors that the group represents. AN WARAY is the term for 'ang mga wala' or those who have nothing or less in life. The party seeks to empower sectors at the geographic, economic and political margins of Philippine society by directly representing them in congress through the party-list system. In the 2004 elections, AN WARAY Party-List won one seat in congress. Our first nominee, Hon. Florencio 'Bem' Noel, represents AN WARAY at the House of Representatives. As a representative of the poor and marginalized in congress, AN WARAY has been able to 1. gain greater access to the manner of disbursing public funds 2. directly participate in the creation of legislative policy and 3. publicly air out and be the voice of the poor and marginalized sectors in most of the national and political issues

TACLOBAN CITY Outgoing An Waray party-list Representative Florencio Bem Noel is set to file today his certificate of candidacy (COC) as a mayoralty candidate at the city office of the Commission on Elections (Comelec). Noel, who wanted to continue serving the Taclobanon, would challenge the second termer Mayor Alfred Romualdez. An Waray party-list, is a democratic multi-sectoral party-list organization that envisions a just, progressive and peaceful Filipino society characterized by its principles that include sense of community, peace, progress through the adoption of a community-based and peace oriented development agenda. In an interview, Noel said that before the filing of his COC, a sponsored mass will be conducted at the Sto. Nio Church. Right after the mass, the whole slate would directly proceed to the city Comelec office to file our COCs, he added. Noel, however, explained that though the whole slate members would go together in going to the Comelec today, still they would not file on same date.

We will all be there to show our full support to every member of the entire slate. But we respect the decision of my party-mates as to when they will file their COCs. What is good for me might not be good on the belief of my other party mates, Noel said. We will file quietly, but those who are willing to go with us are always welcome, he added. As of the moment, the Express still awaits on the pronouncement of the complete line-up of Noels party, other than the present opposition council members that include Vice Mayor Arvin Antoni, Councilors Jerry Uy and, Neil Glova. Meanwhile, Antoni, Noels running mate, in a separate interview said that the upcoming May 2013 election is considered as the first time in the history of Tacloban, where politically known families in the city joined together to support the bid of an oppositionist. These politically known families, who show their support to Noel, all wanted to change the leadership of the present administration, Antoni said. Moreover, Glova said that the aspiring councilors of Noels party could help in addressing all the necessary needs of the different sectors of the society. All of us on the line-up correspond to the blueprint, which the party plans to implement, that would be of good for the welfare of the entire Taclobanon, Glova said. Meanwhile, Noels line-up is composed of candidates representing the business, women and youth sector, health, urban poor and other important sectors in the community that needs imperative attention. MANILA, Philippines - The Supreme Court (SC) stopped the Commission on Elections (Comelec) yesterday from implementing its decision disqualifying four party-list groups from the midterm polls in 2013. In full-court session, SC justices voted to grant the petitions of Ako Bicol (AKB), Association of Philippine Electric Cooperatives (APEC), 1st Consumers Alliance for Rural Energy Inc. (1CARE) and Alliance for Rural Concerns (ARC) for the immediate issuance of either a temporary restraining order (TRO) or status quo ante (SQA) order. In the same order that was confirmed by a member of the high court to The STAR, the high tribunal also consolidated the four petitions and directed the Comelec to answer them by filing a comment within 10 days from receipt of notice. The SC order means that pending final resolution of the main petitions, the Comelec should include the four organizations in the roster of party-list groups set to be finalized next month for printing in the ballots starting Jan. 20.

The order does not mean that the petitioners have already won their case and may join the May 2013 elections since the high court has yet to rule on the merits of their petitions after deliberations. The SC public information office, however, has not confirmed this as of press time, saying they have not yet received this information from the office of Chief Justice Ma. Lourdes Sereno, who implements a dignified silence policy in the high court. Headlines ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 Comelec Chairman Sixto Brillantes Jr. said the poll body is ready to abide with the TRO but will still question the rationale behind the SC ruling. I think there is no urgency in stopping us since we have yet to begin the configuration and printing of official ballots so if they decide immediately on the cases, we can still include their names in the official list if we are ordered by the Court, Brillantes said. He however noted that the SC decision would not affect the Comelecs efforts to purge the list of party -list groups and they would continue to disqualify unqualified groups from participating in the next party-list race. The four party-list groups that sought immediate action of the SC cited urgency due to a plan of the poll body to finalize the list of party-list groups. The high court heeded the call and acted on their petitions when it resumed session yesterday after a two-week holiday recess. In its petition filed last Oct. 30, AKB argued it would be deprived of their fair chance to prepare for a nationwide campaign should the high court fail to enjoin Comelec from disqualifying it and eventually grant its petition. Through lead counsel, retired SC justice Vicente Mendoza, the group cited the plan of the poll body to finalize next month the list of candidates for the printing of ballots starting Jan. 20, 2013. The three other petitioners cited the same ground in seeking the issuance of TRO or SQA. APEC filed its petition last Nov. 6, 1-CARE last Nov. 8 and ARC last Monday. Petitioners accused Comelec of grave abuse of discretion either by arrogating into itself the legislative power by imposing new definition of marginalized and underrepresented sectors or ignoring earlier rulings of the high court that upheld their qualifications as party-list groups. They all argued the poll body had no jurisdiction over the issue.

They also alleged violation of their constitutional right to due process, saying they were not given ample time to challenge their disqualification before the poll body. AKB topped the party-list elections in May 2010 with 1,522,986 votes and earned three seats in the House of Representatives now occupied by Reps. Rodel Batocabe, Christopher Co and Alfredo Garbin Jr. The Comelec disqualified the group because its accreditation is for a regional political party and not for party-list and also for redundancy of the functions of district representatives. APEC got 313,689 votes in 2010 polls and earned one seat now occupied by Rep. Ponciano Payuyo.1CARE, on the other hand, won two seats in Congress Reps. Michael Angelo Rivera and Salvador Cabaluna III after garnering 768,829 votes in the same polls. APEC and 1-CARE were both disqualified because they represent electric consumers, which the Comelec said are not among the marginalized and underrepresented sectors as defined under Republic Act 7941 or the Party-list System Act. ARC won a seat in the 2007 polls occupied by former Rep. Narciso Santiago III, son of Sen. Miriam Defensor-Santiago. It was delisted also supposedly for not belonging to the 12 specific groups listed in Republic Act 7941 (Party-list System Act): labor, peasant, fisherfolk, urban poor, indigenous cultural communities, elderly, handicapped, women, youth, veterans, overseas workers and professionals.

Insidious communist move Meanwhile, some 15 party-list groups with nominees in the House of Representatives shut down their offices yesterday to protest what they said was the insidious campaign by the leftist Bayan Muna to have them stripped of accreditation before the Comelec. Among the groups that shut their main offices in the House and their satellite offices in the provinces for a week were An Waray, AKB, APEC, A Teacher, Alyansa ng mga Grupong Haligi ng Agham at Teknolohiya para sa Mamamayan (Agham), Agricultural Sector Alliance of the Philippines (AGAP), Association of Laborers and Employees (ALE), Alagad, Aangat Tayo, Abante Mindanao, 1 Ang Pamilya, Alliance for Nationalism and Democracy (ANAD), Bagong Henerasyon, Citizens Battle Against Corruption, CoopNatcco, Senior Citizen, and Youth Against Corruption and Poverty (YACAP). The party-list lawmakers said Bayan Muna and other leftist groups like Kontra Daya have been campaigning and filing disqualification petitions before the Comelec against nearly all party-list groups, including new ones.

An Waray party-list Rep. Florencio Noel, who led the protest, said those seeking assistance in their respective offices were pointed to the nearest Bayan Muna office They (Bayan Muna and allied party-list groups) are the only ones who can represent all kinds of sectors in the country, and all other party-list groups, like us, are bogus, Noel said sarcastically. So our assistance, and bills filed and passed are all bogus, as well as all those who voted for us. They think they are the only ones that can do good, that is, if they are really doing good, he said. Bayan Muna party-list Rep. Teodoro Casio, who is on his last term, has filed his candidacy for senator but is so far trailing in the surveys. I put in my office, all solicitation please proceed to Bayan Muna offices, Yacap party-list Rep. Carol Jayne Lopez said. They said they are the only ones who can help the poor. Now, lets see. Another party-list lawmaker, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said there had been persistent reports that Bayan Muna and other leftist party-list groups have been channeling their pork barrel funds to communist rebels. They want to dominate the House and party-list system because they lost over P400 million in pork barrel funds to fund the communist insurgency when they lost some seats in the last elections, the lawmaker said. Dont you wonder why the NPA continue to thrive aside from extortion? the lawmaker added. Senators Gregorio Honasan and Francis Escudero Even with three senators and a host of congressmen from the Bicol region, lawmakers see nothing wrong with additional representation from a party-list group like the discredited Ako Bicol. Senators Gregorio Honasan and Francis Escudero on Thursday expressed disappointment at the decision of the Commission on Elections (Comelec) to disqualify Ako Bicol, the topnotcher in the 2010 party-list balloting. Based on what I know, historical records including the electoral record of Ako Bicol, it represents an unrepresented sector whether marginalized or not from Bicol. Are we questioning the wisdom of the Bicolanos that put three party-list representatives [in Congress]? Honasan told the Philippine Daily Inquirer. Im not questioning the judgment call of the Comelec. Im just saying that it should be driven by some modicum of consistency, he added. Ako Bicol topped the 2010 elections with more than 1.5 million votes, 1.1 million of which came from the Bicol provinces. Ako Bicol has three representatives in the HouseRodel Batocabe, Christopher Co and Alfredo Garbin Jr. I am disappointed with the decision. But Im sure that Ako Bicol will appeal the decision of the Comelec. I am hopeful that the Supreme Court will issue a favorable ruling [for Ako Bicol], Escudero said in a text message.

Asked why Bicolanos should further be represented by a party-list group when they already have their district congressmen in the House, Escudero said, Why not, like An Waray? Escudero pointed out the case of An Waray, a party-list group that represents the Waray of Eastern Samar. It is now represented in Congress by Representatives Florencio Noel and Neil Benedict Motejo. You can say the same for every ethnic group if you study the present representation more carefully. How many are party-list groups camouflaging under various names actually represent ethnic groups, sectoral groups that are within the region? Honasan said when told of the congressmen already representing the Bicolano districts. Aside from Honasan and Escudero of Sorsogon, the other senator who has roots in the Bicol region is Joker Arroyo of Camarines Sur. The region is one of the vote-rich areas in the country. In its decision to disqualify Ako Bicol, the Comelec said Bicolanos were already well represented in Congress. If the commission were to allow Ako Bicols continued participation in the party-list system, this commission is condoning the continued and blatant violation of the proportional representation of provinces, cities and Metropolitan Manila in accordance with the number of their inhabitants, and on the basis of a uniform and progressive ratio, the Comelec said. Strict interpretation In an interview Thursday, Comelec Chairman Sixto Brillantes Jr. said that the decision to drop Ako Bicol was based on the strict interpretation of the Party-list System Act. Brillantes said what happened during the previous en banc deliberations, which accredited Ako Bicol, was not the concern of his commission. We dont want to go back to the past, he said. We are trying to implement in the best possible way the party-list law. Reacting to Ako Bicols move to contest in the Supreme Court the Comelec decision, Brillantes said: We are not saying that we are perfect but we have done our best. Its up to the Supreme Court, said Brillantes. Batocabe in a news forum yesterday warned that if the Comelec could unseat the biggest vote-getting party, other party-list groups with fewer representatives in Congress could be under threat as well. Theyre saying that if we can disqualify the number one party-list group, we can disqualify any of you, Batocabe said. Nothing to fear Cibac Rep. Sherwin Tugna said the poll bodys decision did not necessarily endanger the status of other party-list groups. My point is, there is nothing to fear because each party-list groups qualification/disqualification will be decided according to their background and factual circumstances, Tugna said in a text message, adding that each decision on a party-list group will be based on evidence and the party-list law. In the case of Ako Bicol, he noted that the Comelec had ruled that since it was a regional political party in Bicol, it duplicated the work of geographical lawmakers. Tugna also said that with the Comelecs latest ruling, the poll body was being stricter and narrower when it comes to defining the marginalized sectors and advocacies. Bagong Henerasyon Rep. Bernadette Herrera-Dy, in the same forum, said she was encouraging Ako Bicol to contest the Comelec ruling in the Supreme Court. At this point, you dont know who will qualify to run in the 2013 elections. All you can do is stand by the fact that you are serving and representing a sector, and you are serving well in government and using public funds properly for the benefit of the sector you represent, she said. Double standard Bayan Muna Rep. Neri Colmenares said party-list lawmakers should recognize the need to reform the system to weed out the rich and powerful from the representatives of the truly marginalized.

Garbin scored the Comelec for its double standard in implementing its rules on who were eligible to represent party-list groups. If we were disqualified based on our financial status and as a lawyer, how come the Comelec just proclaimed a party-list nominee Wesly Gatchalian who comes from the Gatchalian clan of Alay Buhay. It seems theres a double standard here on the application of rules, Garbin said in a phone interview. Almost all party-list groups will be affected, even Neri Colmenares who is also a lawyer may be disqualified if we will follow the grounds relied upon by the Comelec, Garbin said. Aside from the double standard, Garbin also questioned the flip-flopping of four Comelec commissioners who upheld Ako Bicols eligibility twice in the previous election only to consider it ineligible for 2013. Our track record and the voluminous documents that we submitted were totally ignored and disregarded, said Garbin. With reports from Tina G. Santos, Leila B. Salaverria and Gil C. Cabacungan Originally posted at 08:52 pm | Thursday, October 11, 2012