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Journal for Law Advocacy – Philippine Party-list System and Representation of Marginalized Population

WVSU Journal for Law Advocacy’s featured article for this week is written by Justin Bionat of the College of Law of the University of San Agustin. As with the first three papers we have released over the last two weeks which discussed about the interplay of electoral laws and jurisprudence, Bionat provides an in-depth analysis of the party-list system which has been increasingly used by political dynasties as a “back door entry” to secure congressional seats after exhausting their term limits.

(Click the image to access the full article)
In the fourth chapter entitled “The Philippine Party-list System and Representation of Marginalized Populations,” Bionat revisits the legislative intent behind the party-list system as illustrated in 2003 and 2009 party-list elections and notes that its true purpose is for sectoral representation, meant to promote social justice and to represent the marginalized and underprivileged sectors remain unfulfilled. Bionat proceeds with a careful examination of party-lists representatives occupying congressional seats in the 18th Congress and have principally sponsored bills in the areas of education, women, and gender, and senior citizens.
Bionat argues for the necessity of revamping the party-list system to accommodate marginalized groups. A key strategy he suggests is to improve the process of accreditation of party-lists by the COMELEC. He a observes in the recently concluded 2022 national elections some interesting party lists groups declared eligible to run such as WOW Pilipinas Partylist, MOCHA Partylist, UMA Ilonggo Partylist, Barkadahan Partylist, and SMILE Partylist. From this, he emphasizes the need to improve the party-list system which is part and parcel of our flourishing democracy of, for, and by the people.

The WVSU Journal for Law Advocacy (JLA) is an academic journal committed to the development of legal scholarship for and from the Visayas Region and Southern Philippines. In preparation of the journal’s official launch by September 23rd 2022, online versions of the seven standalone chapters will be shared to the reading public every week. For inquiries and to submit your original manuscript for publication, please email the Journal’s Executive Editor – Clyde Gacayan at [email protected] .