On Participation and Registration

For purposes of determining national constituency, what is meant by the phrase “spread over the geographical territory of at least a majority of the regions”?
“Majority” means a number higher than 50%. Since the country is composed of sixteen (16) regions, including CAR, ARMM and CARAGA, the party should have regional offices in at least nine (9) regions in order to constitute a majority of the regions in the country.

For purposes of determining regional constituency, what is meant by the phrase “spread over the geographical territory of at least a majority of the cities and provinces comprising the region”?
“Majority” means a number higher than 50%. Thus, if a region consists of, say, five (5) cities and six (6) provinces, in order to obtain the required majority, the party should have chapters in three (3) cities and provincial offices in four (4) provinces.

Is the enumeration of the sectors eligible to participate as sectoral party exclusive?
YES. Only parties of those sectors enumerated in Section 5 of RA 7941 may register and participate as a sectoral party.

May an organization which is not listed among the sectors eligible to participate as a sectoral party still participate in the party-list system?
YES, but as a sectoral organization.

On Nominees

Is it necessary for a nominee to be a member of the party nominating him?
YES. A nominee should be a bona fide member of the party or organization he seeks to represent for at least ninety (90) days preceding the day of election.

Will the names of the nominees be included in the certified list of registered parties?
NO. The names of the party-list nominees shall not be shown on the certified list of participating parties.

Are registered political and sectoral parties and organizations prohibited from revealing during their campaign the identities of those they included in the list of nominees submitted to the COMELEC?
The law is silent as to the revelation of the names of nominees of the registered political or sectoral parties, except that in the last paragraph of Sec. 7 of the party-list law, it states that “the names of the party-list nominees shall not be shown on the certified list.”

What is the importance of the list of nominees and of their ranking therein?
In case the party obtains the required number of votes, the nominees listed shall be proclaimed by Comelec according to their ranking in said list.

If nominees of political parties and sectoral parties and organizations are employees of the government, whether by appointment or by election, are they deemed ipso facto resigned from office upon the filing of the list of nominees?
YES. In Sec. 8 of the party-list law, the last sentence reads: “Incumbent sectoral representatives in the House of Representatives who are nominated in the Party-List System shall not be considered resigned.” The provision creates a special class for incumbent sectoral representatives as to remove them from the general application of Secs. 66 and 67 of the Omnibus Election Code which is quoted hereunder:

“Sec. 66. Candidates holding appointive office or position. - Any person holding a public appointive office or position, including active members of the Armed Forces of the Philippines and offices and employees in government-owned or controlled corporations, shall be considered ipso facto resigned from his office upon the filing of his certificate of candidacy.”

“Sec. 67. Candidates holding elective office. - Any elective official whether national or local, running for any office other than the one which he is holding in a permanent capacity, except for President and Vice-President, shall be considered ipso facto resigned from his office upon the filing of his certificate of candidacy.”

The specific mention of incumbent sectoral representatives for non-coverage of the above provision implies that other party-list nominees who are not in that class shall be covered by Secs. 66 and 67.

Shall incumbent* sectoral representatives in the House of Representatives nominated as party-list representative be considered resigned?
NO, by express provision of Sec. 8, RA 7941.
*Note: At present, there are about 26 appointed incumbent sectoral representatives in the House of Representatives.

What will be the effect if a party-list representative changes his political party or sectoral affiliation during his term of office?
He shall forfeit his seat. Moreover, if he changes his political party or sectoral affiliation within six (6) months before an election, he shall not be eligible for nomination as party-list representative under his new party or organization.

On Election, Counting and Seat Allocation

Will any rounding-off mechanism be applied?
NO. No rounding-off will be applied in the computation of percentage of votes obtained by a party in the party-list election. A party earning only 1.99% will not be rounded off as 2% and will therefore not be entitled to a Congress seat.

Will all of the 52 seats be allocated to the party-list?
Not necessarily. With the large number of parties running for the party-list (currently 120++), it is statistically possible to have only few parties earning at least the necessary 2%. It is not necessary for all 52 seats to be proclaimed allocated to parties.

What happens in case of a tie for remaining seats?
In case of a tie on the percentage variance of votes among parties, a lottery shall ensue to determine which party is allocated with the seat.