Back to square one for party-list system

Militants from progressive party-lists marched from Comelec to the Supreme Court on April 8 in protest of the latest High Court decision. Photo by VINCENT GO.

By MIKHA FLORES

THE latest Supreme Court ruling on the party-list system has stirred up a maelstrom of controversy and revived debates over its real aim barely a month before the May 13 mid-term elections.

In setting new parameters for the system, the SC justices insist they simply restored the original intent of the party-list concept as envisioned by the framers of the 1987 Constitution, which was to open the field to all types of national, regional and sectoral (NRS) organizations.

The intent was to clarify, but the ruling has caused confusion and revived the discussions on the real purpose of the party-list system. The SC decision also failed to address the technical aspects of the system, said Gene Pilapil, a professor of Political Science at the University of the Philippines.