Presidential spokesperson Edwin Lacierda said the Palace is leaving to the wisdom of the Commission on Election to determine which of the party list organizations are qualified to join the May 2013 elections.

 “We leave everything up with the COMELEC. There are rules as a guide for them whether to disqualify a party list or to continue being a party list,” he said.

Some left-wing groups have called for the disqualification of  the Palace-backed Akbayan from the party list polls next year because it can field national candidates in the elections. Critics of Akbayan also claimed the group does not represent the marginalized sector as some of its members already hold key positions in government.

Former Akbayan party list Rep. Risa Hontiveros is running for senator next year under the administration banner.

Using the same argument, Lacierda said Bayan Muna should also be disqualified in next year’s  elections.

“If that’s the case so should Bayan Muna because Teddy Casiño is running as a senatorial candidate,” Lacierda said in a Palace press briefing. “What is sauce for the goose should be sauce for the gander. That‘s the reasoning that they‘re going to say,” he added.

On calls to disqualify Black and White Movement, another Palace-friendly group eyeing the party list elections, Lacierda said he has a personal preference on the matter but would no longer comment. Prior to his stint in government, Lacierda is a member of the Black and White Movement.

“I know what Black and White stands for. I believe in the principles that it stands for. But, with respect to whether it should be disqualified or not, there are rules that COMELEC will apply and we will respect that,” he said.

Meanwhile, Comelec Chairman Sixto Brillantes assured partylist groups - both existing and new applicants -of their objectivity in their ongoing purge of the party list groups.

“We are not favoring anybody.”

“When the final listing comes out, they will realize that we are not favoring anybody. Ang dami namang matatanggal talaga e,” he said.

Brillantes’ assurance came amid the fears expressed by several groups, particularly rivals of the  Akbayan party-list that Comelec would eventually approve the participation of the group despite a disqualification case filed against them.

To recall, the National Union of Students of the Philippines, Anakbayan and other youth groups, said Akbayan had ceased to represent the marginalized sector and should be disqualified from the elections.

Their petition cited the appointment of several Akbayan members to government posts as proof that they are no longer marginalized and underrepresented.

Akbayan nominated Hontiveros to run under the Senate slate of Liberal Party (LP).

Other Akbayan members in government are Presidential Political Adviser Ronald Llamas, National Anti-Poverty Commission Chair Joel Rocamora, Commission on Human Rights Chairperson Loretta Rosales, Government Service Insurance System board member Mario Aguja, Palace Undersecretary for Political Affairs Ibarra Gutierrez III, and Presidential Commission for the Urban Poor Commissioner Angelina Ludovice-Katoh.

Asked on the status of the Akbayan case, the poll chief said it remains under study.

“We have not voted on it yet. We are still deliberating on the case. That is why it remains under study,” said Brillantes.

Source: http://www.mb.com.ph/articles/377508/brillantes-says-comelec-not-favoring-anybody#.UH7ih2-ADgY