An overseas Filipino workers (OFW) advocacy group has asked the Supreme Court (SC) to invalidate a resoluton of the Commission on Elections (Comelec) that delisted the group as a party-list organization.

In a 20-page petition, Migrante told the SC that the Comelec violated Republic Act 7941, otherwise known as the Party-List System Act, when Migrante, along with 25 other party-list groups have been delisted without prior notice and hearing as required by law.

“The statutory requirement must be complied with by respondent (Comelec) at all times, as respondent is the proper body designated to implement such provision. To this duty, respondent has failed miserably at the expense of petitioner and over 10 million overseas Filipino workers and their families,” Migrante said in a petition for certiorari, prohibition and mandamus.

The petitioner also said that Comelec’s explanation that its Resolution 8679, which states that they are not totally delisted from the list of accredited party-list organizations but are still invited to file an opposition to the resolution, is “too lame.”

“Providing petitioner the opportunity to be heard on the matter through its verified opposition was already after the fact of the unequivocal removal or cancellation of its registration as a party under the party-list system,” the petition said.

Aside from lack of due process, another ground cited by the Comelec is Migrante’s failure to participate in the last two preceding elections or failure to obtain at least two percentum of the votes cast in the two preceding elections.

Migrante said that they only participated in the 2004 elections, “so the first argument of failure to participate in the last two elections does not apply to it. Neither does the second ground of failure to obtain at least two percentum of the votes cast in the two preceding elections.”

The petitioner also said that during the 2007 elections, they informed the Comelec that they would not participate in that election but would prepare for the 2010 polls to which respondent (Comelec) acknowledged.

In a resolution dated Nov. 17, 2009, the Comelec maintained that since Migrante Sectoral Party (MSP) did not join the elections in 2007, it automatically meant that it lost in two preceding elections thereby justifying its delisting. (PNA)
RMA/PTR