Reforming the Party List System

 

                                                     

The year 2025 was rainy in the Philippines which resulted in massive floodings in Metro Manila. Investigations revealed that corruption in flood control projects aggravated the sufferings of people because of substandard, overpriced and ghost projects. There were allegations of commission received by legislators on projects worth billions of pesos. With that amount, those accused politicians are believed to have earned big money that could make an ordinary Filipino an instant multi-millionaire. As an example, a billion-peso project with just 10% commission will yield 100 million pesos earnings!

The scandals angered people and galvanized them so that thousands in various walks of life took to the streets in Metro Manila and some parts of the country. They asked for accountability to those who are involved in corruption and the government to take the necessary measures to stop or minimize corruption. Other issues they brought up included the constitutionally mandated but long taken for granted political anti-dynasty law and along with it the reform of the party list system. In this blog I shall focus more on the party list reform which is my main topic.

Under the previous Philippine constitutions there were only representatives elected from electoral districts. That set up was good enough for legislature. However, in1987, the framers of the new constitution introduced a novel concept in Philippines congress that was the party list. Under that system members of congress should consist of district and party list representatives. Originally, congress should be composed of 250 members with 20% of that coming from the Party list. The concept of the party list was to give the marginalized and underrepresented sectors of the society a voice in congress.  

In the beginning, candidates including those from the leftist groups were elected through the party list without issues from the public. But later, some dynastic politicians, business and influential religious groups also set their eyes on the party list. Their desire came to a head in 2013 when the Supreme Court ruled that party list representatives should not necessarily belong to the parties or groups they claim to represent. That ruling opened the doors for dynastic families and other interested groups to infiltrate the party list.

Although not all the representatives from the party list come from political dynasties and elites, many of them are.  A 2025 study by election watchdog Kontra Daya found that 86 of the 156 accredited party list groups in 2025 were linked to political dynasties and big business corporations.

The adoption by the country of the party list system is not an ideal experience because it does not serve the purpose to which it was originally intended. Instead, it is exploited by powerful political dynasties, business groups, and religious groups using their fronts to further enrich and empower them.

As an offshoot of the flood control scandal and the resulting people’s clamor for justice and reforms, there is a big possibility that the anti-political dynasty law will be passed in the 20^th congress; and it is hoped that it will be implemented in the 2028 elections and the succeeding 21^st congress. At present Senator Paolo “Bam” Aquino IV filed Senate Bill 1559 which is called the “Party List Reform Act”.     

In the bill the COMELEC is mandated to thoroughly vet the parties or groups who wish to be elected through the party list to ensure their authenticity, and that the nominees should truly belong to the sectors or parties they claim to represent. In addition, the nominees should not be related within the third degree of consanguinity to incumbent elected government officials or connected to government funded infrastructure projects as a contractor or as an officer of a company building the projects. The passing of the bill plus the Anti-Political Dynasty Law will hopefully improve the country’s political and electoral situations and usher economic prosperity.

A system that is deviated from its original purpose for the benefit of those who should be excluded from it needs to be reformed so that it would not become a burden to our political system. Keeping it defies logic and insults our common sense. The other alternative is to abolish it. However, doing so is difficult because the system is embedded in the constitution.