“I and the members of Akbayan think alike,”
- President Benigno Aquino III
Remarks during the Akbayan Congress, May 25, 2012
Responding to public clamor and protests, the Comelec has embarked on a process of cleansing the party-list system of groups that do not qualify under the law. Several incumbent groups have already had their accreditations cancelled. However, no party-list has incited such intense public discussion as Akbayan, President Aquino’s favored party-list group. The call to disqualify Akbayan should be seen as part of a bigger process of addressing long-standing issues in the party-list system. The abuses by some groups have been going on for so long and now Akbayan thinks it can get away with the same. Voters have a stake in cleaning up a system that has become, according to the Comelec Chair, a “big joke” .
We have three questions related to Akbayan. Is Akbayan marginalized and underrepresented? Are Akbayan’s nominees marginalized and underrepresented based on what is required under the law? Can a group claiming to represent the marginalized be an integral member of the reactionary ruling clique?
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Images taken from various Internet sources.
