SENATE Minority Leader Vicente Sotto III wants to amend Republic Act 7941, or the Party-List System Law, to restore real representation of the marginalized sector.

Sotto files bill to amend party-list system

Sotto filed Senate Bill 192 to realign the party-list system with its original intent under the Constitution.

“Through the years, the interpretation of the law on party-list has expanded its qualification,” Sotto said in a statement on Sunday.

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It deviated from the intent of the framers of the Constitution, which is to “truly represent the marginalized and the underrepresented,” he said.

“The party-list system has also been abused and used as a vehicle to pursue advocacies that are not in the best interest of the government,” Sotto added.

SB 192 outlined additional grounds for the cancellation of registration of party-list groups, including failure to represent the marginalized and underrepresented sectors.

Sotto said there were instances where members or nominees do not belong to these sectors, direct or indirect participation in acts detrimental to the best interest of the government, ceasing to be a marginalized sector, and material misrepresentation of nominees.

He said the deviation from the true mandate of the party-list system has created more inequality, the “very evil that the framers of the Constitution sought to prevent.”