PERSONS WITH DISABILITIES SECTOR SHOUTS OUT INDIGNATION AGAINST COMELEC
Persons With Disabilities (PWD’s), one of only a few legitimate marginalized groups enumerated in Section 5 of Republic Act 7941 or the “Party-List System Act” shout their indignation over Commission on Election’s disqualification of DISABLED PINOY PARTY, the sole sectoral party delegated to represent their issues and concerns and tasked to be their voice in Congress. The decision of COMELEC, reeking of utter disregard and discrimination of a population pegged at ten percent of the Philippine total, angered both the leadership and general membership of the Alyansa ng Maykapansanang Pinoy (AKAPPINOY), the non-political national federation with 420 member PWD organizations nationwide championing the equal participation of persons with disabilities in all aspects of social, political and economic activities of society.
“They said they were trying to trim down the party lists to 120, but look, now they’re 187 and COMELEC reasoned out that according to their findings, we have no constituency down the local level, ” said Mike Barredo, the standard bearer of the disenfranchised Disabled Pinoy Party list. “
In its letter to Chairman Leila de Lima of the Commission on Human Rights, AKAP-PINOY states: “DPP first filed its petition for registration as a sectoral organization under the party list system pursuant to R.A. 7941 on April 14 2009. The same was docketed as SPP 09-025, assigned to the Second Division of the Commission on Elections (COMELEC).
After hearing of said petition, in a Resolution promulgated on October 5, 2009, the Second Divison of COMELEC denied the petition on the ground that reports from COMELEC field offices reveal that DPP does not exist in most regions in the country and that it failed to state in its petition that it is not an adjunct of the government.”
On October 19, 2009, the DPP filed its Motion for Reconsideration before the COMELEC. Attached to the MR were pertinent documents refuting the aforementioned reasons for denial of the party’s application for registration. The Commission en banc, in a resolution dated November 25, 2009, denied the Motion for Reconsideration, stating among others: “…the Petitioner failed to prove that it is actively involved in promoting the interests of the group it seeks to represent” and “…Petitioner has failed to show factual evidence of actually pursuing its goals.” The Commission further states, “…because representation is easy to claim and feign. The party-list organization must factually and truly represent the marginalized and underrepresented constituencies mentioned in Section 5….”
The sector now laments: “Where have all our efforts, under AKAP-PINOY and the DISABLED PINOY’S PARTY, in assisting COMELEC and PPCRV – from the Focus Group Discussion for the selection of the supplier of the PCOS machines, to all of the forums on automated elections, even to discussions on how to assist PWD voters, gone? Aren’t they proof enough of pursuing the equal participation and enjoyment of all the rights of Persons With Disabilities? Where now is COMELEC’s obligation to promote, protect and realize the PWD right to political participation, one enshrined in the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD), to which the Philippines is a state party?
Commissioner Gregorio Y. Larrazabal was the guest speaker at the National Disability Summit organized by AKAPPINOY last November where he saw the delegation of leaders from different regions, yet he admitted to being the proponent at denying the application of DPP during the second review, with the reason that he had no inkling that the very people he encouraged to participate politically were the very ones he barred from inclusion. Meetings were conducted between COMELEC Officials, Commissioner Larrazabal among them, and representatives from the PWD sector but no effort was good enough; no consideration was given to the party list of Persons With Disabilities, but the list ballooned by scores with sectors way out of Section 5 of RA 7941. This raises questions and most of all, eyebrows, on the authenticity of the representations – the very issue COMELEC hurled at DPP. The joke, “approved without thinking “, could not be more hurting. In the case of PWD’s, the hurt is even doubled, as the case points out that their application was disapproved without thinking, too.
The final disqualification of DISABLED PINOY PARTY and COMELEC’s blatant bastardization of the Party-List System, has driven the PWD SECTOR into unified action. ON April 16, about 500 persons with disabilities from the National Capital Region and neighboring provinces and cities will gather to collectively express their indignation at the violation of their rights to political participation. The activity will start off with mass for sobriety and enlightenment at the Manila Cathedral at 7:00AM. Part of the spiritual petition is directed at a giant drug company for its continued arrogance and refusal to the implement of RA 9442, particularly providing the 20% discount on purchases of medicines by PWDs. The group will then proceed to COMELEC for the rally proper. Everyone is welcome to attend and is reminded that disability is part of human diversity – anyone and everyone can become disabled anytime, anywhere, whether temporarily or permanently.
For details of the assembly contact the following:
Carmen Reyes-Zubiaga
GERALDINE P. RUIZ
