90 days is never a track record – Bayan Muna

This was the reaction of Bayan Muna 3rd nominee and peasant lawyer Joven Laura to a part of the resolution by the Commission on Elections (COMELEC) setting the parameters for qualified partylist nominees. “A resolution to address the issue of qualified partylist nominees is just the right thing to do. But ninety days is not enough to set the track record of a particular individual or entity,” expresses Laura. The COMELEC resolution was also aimed at preventing political opportunists from using the partylist system.

“Track record speaks of years of experience and performance, not months,” he quips. “By setting a 90-day period for a passing track record, COMELEC is helping the Arroyos and their allies, who are using the party list system to easily infiltrate Congress, to build an Arroyo stronghold in the lower house, ” Laura expounds.

Rep. Teddy Casiño meanwhile reacting to Presidential son Mikey Arroyo’s statement that he fulfilled the only two requirements governing partylist representation, says that “Mikey Arroyo is dreaming when he said that he is a true advocate of the marginalized sector he is representing. Who would ever believe a multi-millionaire feeling for security guards’ or even tricycle drivers’ plight when all he thought about in the past few years is how to amass more wealth?” He states that Mikey’s 2008 statement of assets, liabilities and net worth (SALN) amounted to P99.2 million. The other requirement of partylist representation is that the sector being represented is truly marginalized.

Rep. Neri Colmenares on the other hand challenges the COMELEC saying that, “It should exert its hardest effort to make up for its failure to ensure that the partylist system really serves its purpose while also saving its credibility and integrity.” He furthers that by doing so the COMELEC should be quick and strict in implementing appropriate guidelines especially to prevent the party list system from losing its integrity and eventually robbing the marginalized sectors of their voice in the congress.

Bayan Muna led by the three nominees will file a disqualification case against Mikey Arroyo as a partylist nominee and against all fake and Arroyo-backed partylists. ###