ENSURE peaceful, credible, and orderly elections.

This was the mission given by President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. to the Armed Forces of Philippines (AFP).

President Marcos spoke during the Oath-taking ceremony of the newly promoted Generals and Flag Officers of the AFP and Foreign Pre-Commission Training Institutions (FPCTI) Graduates in Malacañang.

As a nation that deeply values and honors the Filipinos’ right to vote, the President said the nation is counting on the AFP for a peaceful, credible, and orderly conduct of the electoral process.

He asked the newly-promoted military officials and training graduates to be “shining examples of how a Bagong Pilipino” should be: disciplined, patriotic, and committed to the greater good for the most significant number.

Meanwhile, the party-list system in the Philippine elections continues to take flak from critics owing to the presence of candidates that bastardize its true essence..

The system was established so that marginalized Filipinos can be represented at the House of Representatives. However, it’s no secret that many elected party-lists are a hoax as they represent moneyed members of the society intending to further enrich themselves.

In fairness, not all party lists belong to such category of unwanted candidates as there are those who deserve a seat at the Lower House. Take for example the party list that would be representing the market vendors.

Sulong Mga Batang Quiapo (#29 Batang Quiapo) got a huge boost recently after several preelection party-list preferential surveys showed it among those ready to make a debut at the House of Representatives.

The latest pre-election survey conducted by the OCTA Research group from Jan. 25 to 31 found Batang Quiapo among those poised to get at least one House seat.

Batang Quiapo also landed among the partylist groups projected to secure at least one congressional seat in the Pulse Asia survey, conducted from January 18 to 25, posting a 1.07 percent voter preference, largely supported by Metro Manila voters.

Batang Quiapo was also among the top contenders of customer-centric market research company Tangere’s latest 2025 Pre-Election Party-List Survey, which was conducted in February 11 to 14, garnering 1.37 percent voter preference.

The survey noted strong support for Batang Quiapo in the First and Third Districts of Manila. It also said the increase in voter preference can be attributed to Batang Quiapo’s support for marginalized sectors, in particular, market vendors.

Batang Quiapo also emerged among the top 10 party-list choices among the youth in the Centre for Student Initiatives’ (CSI) independent, youth-led national online poll, conducted in January 19 to 26, where it garnered more than the 2% winning threshold.

“We are very happy that more people are supporting the genuine advocacies of truly marginalized sectors, which is what party-list representation should be all about,” said Batang Quiapo spokesman Atty. Ruskin Principe, one of the group’s nominees.

“Batang Quiapo has no ties to any politician or political dynasty. We have the trust and support of genuine constituencies. We organized ourselves to promote the welfare and protect the rights of market vendors across the country, as well as street vendors, minimum wage earners, even homeless fellow Filipinos, the least and the last who need better representation in Congress,” he said.

Ruskin said Batang Quiapo’s program of action includes providing skills, training and legal aid to market vendors and street vendors to empower them and help them attain socioeconomic security.

Good luck to Batang Quiapo.

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AUTHOR PROFILE

Mario Fetalino Jr.