Left-wing party-lists seen taking more House seats -- survey

By Joel Guinto
INQUIRER.net
Last updated 01:38pm (Mla time) 04/16/2007

MANILA, Philippines -- The left-wing party-list groups Bayan Muna (People First), Anakpawis (Toiling Masses) and Gabriela are likely to win three seats each, for a total of nine, in the House of Representatives during the May mid-term elections, an independent survey showed.

The three party-list organizations are among 10 groups with a "statistical chance" of winning at least one seat in Congress, Pulse Asia Inc. said a statement released Monday.

In the current Congress, the three groups have a combined representation of six lawmakers -- three for Bayan Muna, two for Anakpawis and one for Gabriela.

Pulse Asia polled 1,800 respondents nationwide for the study, which ran from April 3 to 5. It had a margin of error of 2.3 percent at a confidence level of 95 percent.

The study showed that 53 percent of Filipinos are aware of the party-list system, up from 49 percent in March, while 47 percent were unaware of it.

A day before the survey started, on April 2, Bayan Muna Representative Satur Ocampo posted bail on multiple murder charges, which stemmed from his alleged involvement in a supposed purge within the communist movement in the mid 1980s.

Asked which party list groups they would vote for, 13.7 percent said Bayan Muna, 9.4 percent went for Anakpawis, and 6.0 percent chose Gabriela.

Party-list groups need to get at least two percent of the total votes cast in an election to get one House seat. However, they are allowed a maximum of only three seats.

The study showed that the Akbayan Citizen's Action Party and the Angat Ating Kabuhayan Pilipinas Inc. (Anak) may be able to win two seats each in the House, with scores of 5.3 percent and 4.2 percent respectively.

Party list groups likely to win one seat, according to the survey, are: Buhay Hayaang Yumabong (3.4 percent), Advocacy for Teacher Empowerment Through Action, Cooperation, and Harmony towards Education Reforms Inc. or A Teacher (2.7 percent), Filipinos for Peace, Justice, and Progress Movement or FPJPM (2.7 percent), Citizen's Battle Against Corruption or Cibac (2.4 percent), and Ahon Pinoy (2.0 percent).

Incumbent representatives Rene Velarde of Buhay and Joel Villanueva of Cibac are sons of prominent religious leaders, Brother Mariano "Mike" Velarde of El Shaddai and Brother Eduardo "Eddie" Villanueva of the Jesus Is Lord (JIL) Movement.

The FPJMP, on the other hand, is composed of supporters of the late actor and presidential candidate Fernando Poe Jr.


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