Policy, Purpose, and System Mandate
- The State must promote proportional representation in the election of representatives to the House of Representatives through the party-list system (Section 2).
- The party-list system must enable Filipino citizens belonging to marginalized and underrepresented sectors, organizations, and parties—who lack well-defined political constituencies—to become House members (Section 2).
- The State must guarantee a full, free and open party system to broaden representation of party, sectoral, or group interests in the House by enhancing their chances to compete and win seats (Section 2).
- The State must provide the simplest scheme possible (Section 2).
Definitions and Core Concepts
- The party-list system is a mechanism of proportional representation for electing House representatives from national, regional and sectoral parties or organizations or coalitions registered with COMELEC (Section 3(a)).
- A party may be a political party, a sectoral party, or a coalition of parties (Section 3(b)).
- A political party is an organized group of citizens advocating an ideology or platform for general government conduct, which regularly nominates and supports leaders and members as candidates (Section 3(c)).
- A political party is national when its constituency spans at least a majority of the regions; it is regional when its constituency spans at least a majority of the cities and provinces comprising the region (Section 3(c)).
- A sectoral party is an organized group of citizens belonging to a sector enumerated in Section 5, whose principal advocacy pertains to the special interest and concerns of that sector (Section 3(d)).
- A sectoral organization is a group of citizens or a coalition sharing similar physical attributes or characteristics, employment, interests, or concerns (Section 3(e)).
- A coalition is an aggregation of duly registered national, regional, sectoral parties or organizations for political and/or election purposes (Section 3(f)).
Who May Participate and When
- Any party, organization, or coalition already registered with COMELEC need not register anew, but must file a manifestation of desire to participate not later than ninety (90) days before the election (Section 4).
- Any organized group of persons may register for the party-list system by filing a petition verified by its president or secretary, filed not later than ninety (90) days before the election (Section 5).
- The petition must state the desire to participate as a national, regional or sectoral party or organization or a coalition and must attach: its constitution, by-laws, platform or program of government, list of officers, coalition agreement, and other information that COMELEC may require (Section 5).
- The sectors must include: labor, peasant, fisherfolk, urban poor, indigenous cultural communities, elderly, handicapped, women, youth, veterans, overseas workers, and professionals (Section 5).
- Component parties or organizations of a coalition may participate independently, provided the coalition of which they form part does not participate in the party-list system (Section 3(a)).
Registration Processing and Limits
- COMELEC must publish the petition in at least two (2) national newspapers of general circulation (Section 5).
- COMELEC must resolve the petition after due notice and hearing within fifteen (15) days from the date submitted for decision, but in no case later than sixty (60) days before election (Section 5).
- COMELEC may refuse or cancel registration motu proprio or upon a verified complaint of any interested party, after due notice and hearing, on the following grounds (Section 6):
- It is a religious sect or denomination, or an organization or association organized for religious purposes (Section 6(1)).
- It advocates violence or unlawful means to seek its goal (Section 6(2)).
- It is a foreign party or organization (Section 6(3)).
- It receives support from any foreign government, foreign political party, foundation, organization, directly or indirectly through officers or members or through third parties for partisan election purposes (Section 6(4)).
- It violates or fails to comply with laws, rules or regulations relating to elections (Section 6(5)).
- It declares untruthful statements in its petition (Section 6(6)).
- It has ceased to exist for at least one (1) year (Section 6(7)).
- It fails to participate in the last two (2) preceding elections, or fails to obtain at least two percentum (2%) of the votes cast under the party-list system in the last two (2) preceding elections for the constituency where it registered (Section 6(8)).
Certified Lists and Voting Mechanics
- COMELEC must prepare a certified list of national, regional, or sectoral parties, organizations, or coalitions not later than sixty (60) days before election and distribute copies to all precincts for posting in polling places on election day (Section 7).
- The names of the party-list nominees must not be shown on the certified list (Section 7).
- Each registered party, organization, or coalition must submit to COMELEC not later than forty-five (45) days before election a list of names—not less than five (5)—from which party-list representatives will be chosen if it obtains the required number of votes (Section 8).
- A person may be nominated in one (1) list only (Section 8).
- Only persons who have given consent in writing may be named in the list (Section 8).
- The list cannot include any candidate for any elective office, or any person who lost his bid for an elective office in the immediately preceding election (Section 8).
- After submission, no change of names or alteration of the order of nominees is allowed except when the nominee dies, withdraws in writing, or becomes incapacitated; in those cases, the substitute nominee’s name is placed last in the list (Section 8).
- Incumbent sectoral representatives in the House of Representatives who are nominated in the party-list system are not considered resigned (Section 8).
- A voter is entitled to two (2) votes: (1) a vote for a candidate for member of the House in his legislative district, and (2) a vote for the party, sectoral organization, or coalition to be represented in the House (Section 10).
- Votes cast for a party, sectoral organization, or coalition not entitled to be voted for are not counted (Section 10).
- The first election under the party-list system must be held in May 1998 (Section 10).
- COMELEC must undertake the necessary information campaign to educate the electorate on the party-list system (Section 10).
Nominee Qualifications and Eligibility
- No person may be nominated as party-list representative unless he meets all qualifications (Section 9):
- He is a natural-born citizen of the Philippines (Section 9).
- He is a registered voter (Section 9).
- He is a resident of the Philippines for not less than one (1) year immediately preceding election day (Section 9).
- He can read and write (Section 9).
- He is a bona fide member of the party or organization he seeks to represent for at least ninety (90) days preceding election day (Section 9).
- He is at least twenty-five (25) years of age on election day (Section 9).
- A youth sector nominee must be at least twenty-five (25) but not more than thirty (30) years old on election day (Section 9).
- Any youth sectoral representative who reaches thirty (30) years during his term may continue in office until the expiration of his term (Section 9).
Seat Allocation, Proclamation, and Term
- Party-list representatives constitute twenty percentum (20%) of the total number of House members, including party-list members (Section 11).
- For the May 1998 elections, the first five (5) major political parties based on party representation at the start of the Tenth Congress are not entitled to participate in the party-list system (Section 11).
- Seat allocation for the party-list vote uses these rules (Section 11):
- Parties, organizations, and coalitions must be ranked from highest to lowest based on votes garnered (Section 11(a)).
- Entities receiving at least two percent (2%) of total party-list votes are entitled to one (1) seat each (Section 11(b)).
- Entities garnering more than two percent (2%) are entitled to additional seats in proportion to total votes (Section 11(b)).
- No party, organization, or coalition may receive more than three (3) seats (Section 11(b)).
- COMELEC must tally party-list votes on a nationwide basis, rank parties by votes received, and allocate seats proportionately based on percentage of votes against total nationwide party-list votes (Section 12).
- Party-list representatives are proclaimed by COMELEC according to each party-list’s submitted list and its internal ranking (Section 13).
- Party-list representatives serve a term of three (3) years starting at noon on the thirtieth day of June next following election, unless otherwise provided by law (Section 14).
- No party-list representative may serve for more than three (3) consecutive terms (Section 14).
- Voluntary renunciation of the office for any length of time does not interrupt continuity for purposes of completing the full term (Section 14).
Affiliation Changes, Vacancies, and Rights
- Any elected party-list representative who changes his political party or sectoral affiliation during his term forfeits his seat (Section 15).
- If a representative changes political party or sectoral affiliation within six (6) months before an election, he is not eligible for nomination under his new party or organization (Section 15).
- Any vacancy in party-list seats is automatically filled by the next representative from the same party, organization, or coalition’s nominee list in the order submitted to COMELEC, for the unexpired term (Section 16).
- If the list is exhausted, the concerned party, organization, or coalition must submit additional nominees (Section 16).
- Party-list representatives are entitled to the same salaries and emoluments as regular members of the House of Representatives (Section 17).
Implementing Authority, Funding, and Legal Effect
- COMELEC must promulgate necessary rules and regulations to carry out the purposes of the Act (Section 18).
- The amount necessary to implement the Act is provided through regular appropriations for COMELEC starting fiscal year 1996 under the General Appropriations Act (Section 19).
- Starting 1995, COMELEC is authorized to use savings and other available funds for an information campaign on the party-list system (Section 19).
- The Act includes a separability rule: if any part is held invalid or unconstitutional, the other parts remain valid and effective (Section 20).
- The Act contains a repealing rule: all laws, decrees, executive orders, rules and regulations, or parts inconsistent with the Act are repealed (Section 21).