BY ATTY. JULIUS GREGORY B. DELGADO
GENUINE PARTY-LIST GROUP AND NOMINEE ACT
On November 27, 2025, Senator Bam Aquino filed Senate Bill No. 1559 which is “An Act To Ensure That the Party-List System is Reserved for the Marginalized and Underrepresented Amending Republic Act No. 7941 or the ‘Party-List System Act’” or the “Genuine Party-List Group and Nominee Act.”
The current system has clearly failed to achieve the objective of the law which is to provide genuine representation of marginalized and underrepresented sectors of society in the House of Representatives. The system has allowed additional seats for political dynasties in vote-rich bailiwicks or has become a backdoor for contractors to get a seat in the lower house without the need to slug it out in the district level.
Under the proposed measure, there will be evidentiary hearings to verify that the organizations genuinely represent sectors they claim to serve. There will be a period within which the applicants will be scrutinized to ensure that they really represent the marginalize or underrepresented sectors they wish to represent, and their nominees are bona fide members of these organizations.
The proposed measure also prohibits nominees who are related to incumbent public officials within third (3rd) degree of consanguinity and affinity and those individuals who have been government contractors, including officers of companies involved in public infrastructure or other state-funded projects. Those who also lost in the preceding elections are also prohibited from being nominees.
While the bill has been certified as urgent, it remains to be seen if the House of Representatives will champion these reforms of the Party-List System considering that their representatives belong to either political dynasties or are contractors.