Party-list solons
SOME quarters wanted to do away with the country’s party-list solons, but others were not slow to realize the importance of these legislators in the House of Representatives.
Undaunted by the move, proponents of the party-list system orchestrated the banging of the drum about these lawmakers in the countdown to the May 9 presidential polls.
As a result, the highly-influential Partylist Coalition Foundation, Inc. (PCFI) still managed to muster 60 votes.
During the about to end 18th Congress, with Marinduque Rep. Lord Allan Jay Q. Velasco as Speaker of the House of Representatives, the foundation only had 54 votes.
In the 19th Congress, the PCFI, with 60 votes, remains as the second largest bloc in the House, which is expected to be headed by Leyte Rep. Martin Romualdez.
With 63 seats, the Partido Demokratiko Pilipino-Lakas ng Bayan (PDP-Laban) is the largest bloc in the House of Representatives, according to official records.
The other blocs are the National Union Party (NUP), Nacionalista Party (NP), Nationalist People’s Coalition (NPC) and Lakas, with 40, 39, 36 and 27 seats, respectively.
Sitting as the National Board of Canvassers, the Commission on Elections had earlier proclaimed 55 party list groups. ACT-CIS, as the topnotcher, got three seats followed by 1-Rider, Tingog, 4Ps, Ako Bicol and Sagip, which each secured two seats.
Tingog’s first nominee is Rep. Yedda Marie K. Romualdez, a former beauty queen and the wife of Congressman Romualdez, who is expected to be elected House speaker.
The sectoral solons are seen to play a stellar role in the discussion and passage of vital pieces of legislation aimed at hastening the country’s socio-economic development.
Tiyak ‘yon!
