Hontiveros, Akbayan propose major changes to party list law
Sen. Risa Hontiveros and the Akbayan party list group have filed a bill proposing sweeping amendments to the Party List System Act to guard against abuses by political dynasties and contractors.
In her Senate Bill No. 1656, Hontiveros seeks to bar political dynasties as well as party list nominees and representatives with interests in government contracts from participating in the party list system. She noted that a counterpart bill (House Bill No. 7074) had also been filed by Akbayan Representatives Chel Diokno, Perci Cendaña and Dadah Ismula, together with Dinagat Islands Rep. Kaka Bag-ao.
“[T]his bill aims to reclaim the voice of ordinary Filipinos who have been shut out of power because of abusive personalities who are using the party list system as a backdoor to power. If they’re not genuinely fighting for the Filipino people, they don’t belong in this system,” Hontiveros said in a statement.
She noted that framers of the 1987 Constitution institutionalized the party list system under Article VI, Section 5 as a transformative mechanism for representation.
“They envisioned a Congress that would no longer be dominated by individual, personality-based contests, but shaped by sectors, organizations, and parties that compete based on platforms, programs and principles. The party list system was meant to open the political system and advance genuine plurality through proportional representation,” Hontiveros said.
However, structural weaknesses emerged that have frustrated the development of a mature party list system, she noted.
Hontiveros cited in particular the imposition of a three-seat cap, which she said distorts proportional outcomes and prevents parties from scaling based on public support.
‘Electoral vehicles’
The system has also been undermined by actors who treat party list organizations as “electoral vehicles for patronage, corruption, and dynastic entrenchment.”
The Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism recently reported that 66 percent of party lists in the 19th Congress had at least one nominee from an established political dynasty.
Congressional inquiries into anomalous flood control projects have also revealed that some party list representatives benefited directly from government projects by acting as contractors.
“This blatant conflict of interest has no place in a democracy,” Hontiveros said.
Aside from banning political dynasties, both bills also prohibit the registration of party list organizations named after television or radio programs, state aid programs, public officials, celebrities and other public figures to ensure the system remains focused on genuine sectoral representation.
The bills also proposed the removal of the three-seat limit to enable full, democratic, and proportional representation.
