Banat v Comelec

GR No. 179271

April 21, 2009

Facts:
14 May 2007- elections included the elections for the party-list representatives. The COMELEC
counted 15,950,900 votes cast for 93 parties under the Party-List System
27 June 2002- BANAT filed a Petition to Proclaim the Full Number of Party-List Representatives
Provided by the Constitution
9 July 2007- the COMELEC, sitting as the NBC, promulgated NBC Resolution No. 07-60. NBC
Resolution No. 07-60 proclaimed thirteen (13) parties as winners in the party-list elections
Pursuant to NBC Resolution No. 07-60, the COMELEC, acting as NBC, promulgated NBC
Resolution No. 07-72, which declared the additional seats allocated to the appropriate parties
(using Veterans formula)
On 9 July 2007, Bayan Muna, Abono, and A Teacher asked the COMELEC, acting as NBC, to
reconsider its decision to use the Veterans formula as stated in its NBC Resolution No. 07-60
because the Veterans formula is violative of the Constitution and of Republic Act No. 7941 (R.A.
No. 7941). On the same day, the COMELEC denied reconsideration during the proceedings of
the NBC
ISSUES/ HELD:
1. Is the two percent threshold prescribed in Section 11(b) of RA 7941 to qualify for an additional
seat constitutional?- NO
2. How shall the party-list representative seats be allocated?
3. Does the Constitution prohibit the major political parties from participating in the party-list
elections? If not, can the major political parties be barred from participating in the party-list
elections?
RATIO:
1. We rule that, in computing the allocation of additional seats, the continued operation of the two
percent threshold for the distribution of the additional seats as found in the second clause of
Section 11(b) of R.A. No. 7941 is unconstitutional.
The Court finds that the two percent threshold makes it mathematically impossible to achieve the
maximum number of available party list seats when the number of available party list seats
exceeds 50
The continued operation of the two percent threshold in the distribution of the additional seats
frustrates the attainment of the permissive ceiling that 20% of the members of the House of
Representatives shall consist of party-list representatives.
The two percent threshold presents an unwarranted obstacle to the full implementation of Section
5(2), Article VI of the Constitution and prevents the attainment of the broadest possible
representation of party, sectoral or group interests in the House of Representatives.
2. See pdf file
3. The Constitutional Commission adopted a multi-party system that allowed all political parties to
participate in the party-list elections.
R.A. No. 7941 provided the details for the concepts put forward by the Constitutional
Commission. Section 3 of R.A. No. 7941
Congress, in enacting R.A. No. 7941, put the three-seat cap to prevent any party from dominating
the party-list elections. Neither the Constitution nor R.A. No. 7941 prohibits major political parties
from participating in the party-list system.

In defining a party that participates in party-list elections as either a political party or a sectoral
party, R.A. No. 7941 also clearly intended that major political parties will participate in the partylist elections. Excluding the major political parties in party-list elections is manifestly against the
Constitution, the intent of the Constitutional Commission, and R.A. No. 7941.
Read together, R.A. No. 7941 and the deliberations of the Constitutional Commission state that
major political parties are allowed to establish, or form coalitions with, sectoral organizations for
electoral or political purposes. There should not be a problem if, for example, the Liberal Party
participates in the party-list election through the Kabataang Liberal ng Pilipinas (KALIPI), its
sectoral youth wing.
Under Section 9 of R.A. No. 7941, it is not necessary that the party-list organizations nominee
wallow in poverty, destitution and infirmity[34] as there is no financial status required in the law.
It is enough that the nominee of the sectoral party/organization/coalition belongs to the
marginalized and underrepresented sectors,[35] that is, if the nominee represents the fisherfolk,
he or she must be a fisherfolk, or if the nominee represents the senior citizens, he or she must be
a senior citizen.
However, by a vote of 8-7, the Court decided to continue the ruling in Veterans disallowing major
political parties from participating in the party-list elections, directly or indirectly.