Policy, purpose, and design
- The State must promote proportional representation in the election of representatives to the House of Representatives through a party-list system.
- The party-list system must enable Filipino citizens belonging to marginalized and underrepresented sectors who lack well-defined political constituencies to become members of the House of Representatives.
- The State must develop and guarantee a full, free and open party system to enhance the chances of party, sectoral, and group interests to compete for and win seats.
- The State must provide the simplest scheme possible for achieving broad representation.
Core definitions and terms
- “Party-list system” is a mechanism of proportional representation for electing representatives from national, regional and sectoral parties or organizations or coalitions thereof registered with the Commission on Elections (COMELEC).
- A “party” may be a political party, a sectoral party, or a coalition of parties.
- A “political party” is an organized group of citizens advocating an ideology or platform and which regularly nominates and supports leaders and members as candidates for public office.
- A political party is national if its constituency is spread over at least a majority of the regions, and regional if spread over at least a majority of the cities and provinces comprising the region.
- 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.
- A “sectoral organization” is a group of citizens or a coalition sharing similar physical attributes or characteristics, employment, interests, or concerns.
- A “coalition” is an aggregation of duly registered national, regional, sectoral parties or organizations for political and/or election purposes.
- Component parties/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).
What must be filed, when, and where
- A party, organization, or coalition already registered with COMELEC need not register anew but must file a manifestation of its desire to participate in the party-list system not later than ninety (90) days before the election (Section 4).
- Any organized group must register by filing with COMELEC not later than ninety (90) days before the election a petition verified by its president or secretary stating its desire to participate as a national, regional or sectoral party or organization or a coalition.
- The petition must attach: its constitution, by-laws, platform or program of government, list of officers, coalition agreement, and other relevant information that COMELEC may require (Section 5).
- The enumerated sectors must include: labor, peasant, fisherfolk, urban poor, indigenous cultural communities, elderly, handicapped, women, youth, veterans, overseas workers, and professionals (Section 5).
- 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 it was submitted for decision, but in no case not later than sixty (60) days before election (Section 5).
- COMELEC must prepare and distribute a certified list of registered parties/organizations/coalitions not later than sixty (60) days before election for posting in polling places on election day, and the names of the party-list nominees must not be shown on the certified list (Section 7).
- Each registered party/organization/coalition must submit to COMELEC not later than forty-five (45) days before election a list of nominees containing not less than five (5) names (Section 8).
Registration refusal/cancellation grounds
- COMELEC may refuse or cancel registration motu proprio or upon verified complaint of any interested party, after due notice and hearing (Section 6).
- Registration may be refused or cancelled if the applicant:
- is a religious sect or denomination, organization, or association organized for religious purposes (Section 6(1));
- advocates violence or unlawful means to seek its goal (Section 6(2));
- is a foreign party or organization (Section 6(3));
- receives support from any foreign government, foreign political party, foundation, or organization, whether directly or through officers or members or indirectly through third parties for partisan election purposes (Section 6(4));
- violates or fails to comply with laws, rules, or regulations relating to elections (Section 6(5));
- declares untruthful statements in its petition (Section 6(6));
- has ceased to exist for at least one (1) year (Section 6(7));
- 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 two (2) preceding elections for the constituency where it registered (Section 6(8)).
Nominees, voting rules, and eligibility
- Each person may be nominated in one (1) list only (Section 8).
- Only persons who gave written consent may be named in the list (Section 8).
- The list must not include any candidate for any elective office or a person who lost his bid for an elective office in the immediately preceding election (Section 8).
- No change of names or alteration of the order of nominees is allowed after submission except if the nominee dies, withdraws in writing, or becomes incapacitated; in those cases, the substitute nominee 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).
- No person may be nominated unless he is:
- a natural-born citizen of the Philippines;
- a registered voter;
- a resident of the Philippines for not less than one (1) year immediately preceding election day;
- able to read and write;
- a bona fide member of the party or organization he seeks to represent for at least ninety (90) days preceding election day; and
- at least twenty-five (25) years of age on election day (Section 9).
- For the youth sector, the nominee must be at least twenty-five (25) but not more than thirty (30) years of age on election day (Section 9).
- Any youth sectoral representative who attains thirty (30) during his term may continue in office until the expiration of his term (Section 9).
- Every voter is entitled to two (2) votes:
- a vote for a candidate for member of the House of Representatives in his legislative district; and
- a vote for the party, sectoral organization, or coalition wanted represented in the House of Representatives (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).
Seats allocation and seat computation
- Party-list representatives constitute twenty percentum (20%) of the total number of members of the House of Representatives, including those under the party-list (Section 11).
- For the May 1998 elections, the first five (5) major political parties based on party representation in the House of Representatives at the start of the Tenth Congress of the Philippines are not entitled to participate in the party-list system (Section 11).
- Seat allocation for the second vote must follow this procedure:
- Rank parties/organizations/coalitions from highest to lowest based on votes garnered (Section 11(a)).
- Those receiving at least two percent (2%) of total votes cast for the party-list system are entitled to one seat each (Section 11(b)).
- Those garnering more than two percent (2%) receive additional seats in proportion to their total votes (Section 11(b)).
- No party/organization/coalition is entitled to more than three (3) seats (Section 11(b)).
- COMELEC must tally votes for parties/organizations/coalitions nationwide, rank them by votes received, and allocate party-list representatives proportionately based on each entity’s percentage of total nationwide party-list votes (Section 12).
Proclamation, term, and continuity rules
- Party-list representatives must be proclaimed by COMELEC based on the list of names submitted by each party/organization/coalition according to ranking in the list (Section 13).
- The term of office is three (3) years, beginning at noon on the thirtieth day of June next following the 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 for any length of time does not interrupt continuity for purposes of counting the full term (Section 14).
Affiliation change and vacancies
- An elected party-list representative who changes political party or sectoral affiliation during his term forfeits his seat (Section 15).
- If the representative changes political party or sectoral affiliation within six (6) months before an election, he is not eligible for nomination as party-list representative under the new party or organization (Section 15).
- For vacancies in party-list seats, the vacancy is automatically filled by the next representative from the list of nominees in the order submitted to COMELEC by the same party/organization/coalition, who serves the unexpired term (Section 16).
- If the list is exhausted, the party/organization/coalition must submit additional nominees (Section 16).
Rights, rules, and appropriations
- Party-list representatives are entitled to the same salaries and emoluments as regular members of the House of Representatives (Section 17).
- COMELEC must promulgate necessary rules and regulations to carry out the purposes of the Act (Section 18).
- The amount necessary for implementation must be provided in 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).
Separability, repeals, and final effect
- Section 20 provides a separability clause: if any part is held invalid or unconstitutional, the remaining parts remain valid and effective.
- Section 21 repeals all laws, decrees, executive orders, rules and regulations, or parts thereof, inconsistent with the Act.
- Section 22 fixes effectivity at fifteen (15) days after publication in a newspaper of general circulation.