If you’re a frequent motorist passing through the South Luzon Expressway (SLEX) near the Calamba Toll Plaza (which is now undergoing demolition), chances are you’ll be familiar with the giant billboards advertising not products or services but politicos, both local and national.
Given that billboard advertising is, in itself, so costly that only multi-million businesses spend money on billboard advertising, the critical-thinking voter couldn’t help but wonder how much politicos (and wannabe politicos) shell out on those giant billboards along SLEX.
Case in point: according to estimates provided by the website Billboards in My City, (www.billboardsin.com ), billboard advertising in Metro Manila could easily cost around $1,000 to $15,000 (P56,000 to P848,000) per month.
My goodness!
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But let’s set aside that issue for the time being and put our focus on what, to me, is the continued “bastardization” of our party-list system.
About three years ago, I noted in this column space about the seemingly nonsensical partylists – partylists with absurd names and no known advocacy – managing to gain seats in Congress.
Not only that: a check from our current student-interns revealed a troubling pattern of similarly-sounding partylists now currently sitting at the 19th Congress.
For instance, there are two groups claiming to be the true “representatives” of senior citizens (United Senior Citizens and Senior Citizens Partylist).
There are also two partylists named "Probinsyano" in the roster: "Ang Probinsyano" and "Probinsyano Ako."
Take note that given the various "regional partylists" included in the roll, such as Ako Bisaya, Ako Bikol, Bicol Saro, An Waray and even Kusug Tausug, you couldn’t help but wonder what province these guys are representing, if at all.
But the one that elicited the most laughs from us is the “Tutok to Win” partylist, named after a (once) popular game show! Anong platform nito? Bigyan ng jacket ang lahat ng mga Pilipino?!
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And it does not stop there!
Back to the billboards along SLEX that I’ve talked about at the beginning of the article – we’ve noticed partylists which names could really scratch our heads: Barkadahan Partylist, Bahay Partylist, Nanay Partylist… Holy guacamole!
Wait a minute, let’s check on the relevant laws and see what party-lists should be in the first place. Here’s a section of Republic Act No. 7491, which instituted the provisions of the 1987 Constitution regarding the party-list system:
"The State shall promote proportional representation in the election of representatives to the House of Representatives through a party-list system of registered national, regional and sectoral parties or organizations or coalitions thereof, which will enable Filipino citizens belonging to the marginalized and underrepresented sectors, organizations and parties, and who lack well-defined political constituencies but who could contribute to the formulation and enactment of appropriate legislation that will benefit the nation as a whole, to become members of the House of Representatives."
Take note, marginalized and underrepresented sectors! What sector does “Tutok to Win” represent? What sector does the “Barkada” partylist represent?
And as I’ve noted three years ago, it’s a goddamn irony that it was the partylists who were denigrated and red-tagged during the Duterte administration for their leftist leanings who actually got the spirit and the letter of the law right!
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