G.O. not qualified as dominant minority

Sen. Edgardo Angara maintained that the Genuine Opposition is not qualified to be named the dominant minority party entitled to the sixth copy of election returns in the May 14 polls.

Angara, the longest-serving senator today, said the Commission on Elections would be stretching the definition of a party if it names GO the dominant minority party. He said that it would be mind-boggling for an entity that is not ever registered as a political party to be accredited as the dominant minority party.

He also maintained that the Comelec would go against the law if it proceeds to accredit GO as reported in the papers. He said that among the criteria for accreditation as dominant minority party is its track record in previous elections, the number of incumbent elected officials, and the ability to field candidates in the election.

"GO has no track record of participation in past elections. It has only two accredited party members - the PDP-Laban and the Partido ng Masang Pilipino - which have very few elected officials and it could not field candidates for majority of the posts at stake," Angara said.

Angara heads the Laban ng Demokratikong Pilipino, which he nurtured and strengthened after the 1992 presidential elections when most members joined Lakas-CMD. The LDP has been the dominant opposition party and later, the dominant minority party, since 1995.

He said that if the number of party members who ran in the previous elections and the number of winners are made the main consideration, then LDP should be named once again the dominant minority party.

"If Comelec uses the current party of officials and disregard the party under which they ran in the previous election, then the Comelec will be giving premium to turncoatism," Angara stressed.

Angara is principal author of an electoral reform bill that sanctions turncoatism, which he says militates against efforts to strengthen political parties. He is seeking his fourth term in the Senate under the Team Unity ticket.