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By DELIA BAGNI
www.nordis.net

BAGUIO CITY — Members of progressive party-lists under the Makabayan coalition and other groups trooped to the regional office of the Commission on Election (Comelec) Cordillera to protest the impending disqualification against party-lists Piston and Kabataan.

Two party-lists, Kabataan and Piston, are being charged by the Comelec for violating sections of Comelec Resolution 9615 on the posting of campaign materials in public places.

According to Carlito Wayas of Piston Partylist Cordillera, the Comelec national office conducted an inspection last February in Quezon City. He said Piston is the only partylist which was given warning of disqualification for putting posters in public places. He added that a poster of their group was not removed and they also suspect that someone put it there on purpose to be used as a ground for disqualification.

Wayas said that the Comelec guidelines on postering is meant to suppress progressive partylists like Piston, Kabataan, Anakpawis, Gabriela, Katribu, Bayan Muna and other groups critical to the administration. He also said that the mentioned party-lists are being targeted with disqualification and other demolition tries because of their staunch advocacy for people’s rights and welfare. He added that Comelec’s action only shows how rotten the government system is.

Cielo Marie Bayson of the Kabataan Party-list asked how can the youth who are being called as the hope of the country help in molding the nation if government leaders and agencies like Comelec are the ones hindering such group representing the youth. She said that 88 percent of the new voters are composed of youth and students.

“Disqualification of the Kabataan Partylist is removing the right of the youth to be represented in the legislative body of the government,” Bayson said. She added that like the Piston party-list, the government does not want the Kabataan Party-list to win the elections and have a place in the Congress because of its stand against education budget cut, tuition fee increase and abusive school policies nation wide.

Kabataan Party-list is also being charged for putting posters in the center islands of Taft Avenue in Manila and streamers inside the Polytechnic University of the Philippines campus.

Katribu Party-list spokesperson Samuel Anongos said that the Comelec should review and study the backgrounds of all the party-lists who are calling themselves representative of indigenous people but are not.

The groups stressed that while Comelec puts progressive party-lists on hot seat and threatens them with disqualification, the agency is blind and mum on other running political parties and candidates who are clearly violating the election campaign guidelines. They said there are many posters and campaign materials of other groups which exceed the Comelec required sizes and were even posted in front of the Comelec office. They added there are also posters of candidates in plain sight in the market, along sidewalks and jeepneys. # nordis.net