1 month ago
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February 13, 2025 | 12:00am
MANILA, Philippines — A majority of the frontrunners in the party-list race for the upcoming elections do not represent the poor and marginalized sector, election watchdog Kontra Daya revealed yesterday.
In a recent report, Kontra Daya said more than half of those leading in the party-list race have ties to political dynasties and big business, defeating the primary goal of the party-list law, which is to ensure representation for the poor in the House of Representatives.
“Of the 155 party-list groups participating in the 2025 polls, 55.13 percent do not represent the marginalized and underrepresented,” the group said.
Kontra Daya further noted that many of the survey frontrunners are among those flagged for various concerns, including political affiliations and questionable advocacies.
Among the groups identified as allegedly “hijacking the party-list race” are 4Ps, ACT-CIS, Duterte Youth, Ako Bicol, FPJ Bantay Bayanihan, Tingog Sinirangan and TGP.
“Political dynasties appear to dominate (these party-lists),” Kontra Daya noted, citing that 4Ps is connected to the family of senatorial candidate Benhur Abalos, ACT-CIS to the Tulfos and Yap, FPJ Bantay Bayanihan to the son of Sen. Grace Poe and Tingog Sinirangan to the Romualdez clan.
Kontra Daya also pointed out the involvement of big businesses in certain party-list organizations, such as Ako Bicol (Sunwest) and TGP (Teravera, a contractor for Department of Public Works and Highways projects).
Duterte Youth, on the other hand, was noted for its military connections and track record of red-tagging.
These groups are among the 86 party-list organizations flagged by Kontra Daya based on three criteria: links to pork barrel, plunder, graft and corruption; dubious advocacy and insufficient publicly available information.
At a forum held at the University of the Philippines in Diliman, Kontra Daya convenor Danilo Arao said that the number of party-list groups the watchdog has flagged is “a big number to be worried about.
