MANILA, Philippines – Calling their very existence a “mockery of the law”, President Rodrigo Duterte said he will personally lobby for the abolition of the party-list system in the new federal government.
According to Duterte, the system is useless as it is being exploited by the wealthy and powerful. As an example, Duterte pointed disqualified party-list group Ang Galing Pinoyheaded by Mikey Arroyo as proof of the vulnerability of the system.
“I will not allow it…inabuso lahat yan eh, ang nananalo ay ‘yong may pera [it is being abused…only moneyed people win]. Representing what? The security guards?” the Philippine Star quoted the president as saying.
Ang Galing Pinoy, which claims to represent security guards but was headed by former president Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo’s son Mikey Arroyo, was disqualified by Comelec in 2012 after the poll body ruled that its leaders did not belong to any marginalized sector which they claim to represent.
At the time, Arroyo — a former representative of Pampanga — was one of the wealthiest in Congress with a net worth of P95 million.
Duterte was apparently referring to Ang Galing Pinoy, a political group of security guards and tricycle drivers, formerly represented in the House of Representatives by Mikey Arroyo; son of former president Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.
The Commission on Elections disqualified Ang Galing Pinoy in 2013 after its First Division ruled that Mr. Arroyo did not belong to the sector he claimed to represent.
“That’s the mockery of the law. ‘Yan talaga ang pinakabastos na nagawa mo. Kasi ikaw, ‘yung pera, magbili ka ng ano diyan? Ano ba ‘yung ano mo? United idiots’ association,” Duterte said.
[That’s the mockery of the law. That’s the most shameless thing you can do. You, with the money, you will use it to buy what? What’s your credentials? United idiots’ association.]
The president added he will make sure no party-lists exist in the new form of government by reading the revised Constitution once it’s done.
“So you could only come up with the Constitution that is responsive to the will of the people, this party-list, it will never come again,” he said.
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