Supreme Court: Prohibiting losing candidates to run as party-list nominees unconstitutional

Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, January 27) — The Supreme Court en banc has declared unconstitutional a provision under the party-list system which prohibits defeated candidates in the immediately preceding polls from being included in the list of nominees for party-list representatives.

The high court released its decision on Jan. 24, penned by Associate Justice Jhosep Lopez, but the full-text copy is still not available, the Supreme Court Public Information Office said in a statement on Friday.

The Supreme Court declared invalid and unconstitutional the phrase “a person who has lost his bid for elective office in the immediately preceding election,” which was under Section 8 of Republic Act (RA) 7941 or the “Party-List System Act.”

It also ruled the same on the phrases “have lost in their bid for an elective office in the May 13, 2019 National and Local Elections” and “or a person who has lost his bid for an elective office in the May 13, 2019 National and Local Elections,” under Sections 5(d) and 10, respectively, of Commission on Elections (Comelec) Resolution 10717.

The decision granted the petitions for certiorari and prohibition with application for the issuance of temporary restraining order and/or writ on injunction filed by Catalina Leonen-Pizzaro and Glen Quintos Albano in 2021, who were candidates for party-list representatives in the 2019 national elections.

“The Court found that the prohibition placed on losing candidates violates the constitutional guaranty of substantive due process as it effectively intrudes on the right of losing candidates in the immediately preceding elections from participating in the present elections,” the statement said. “It added that the State cannot require eligibility for public office to be conditioned on a candidate’s ill performance in the previous election, nor may such performance be used as a rubric to gauge the person’s ability to serve.”

The high court also said it applied the rational basis test in deciding that the assailed phrases “must be struck down” as there was no “substantial distinction” between defeated candidates in the immediately preceding polls and those who won or did not participate.

The petitioners also argued that Congress does not have the power to add additional qualifications set forth in Section 6, Article VI of the 1987 Constitution with respect to party-list representatives.

But the high court said there is nothing “constitutionally repugnant” on the part of Congress to provide for the selection of party-list nominees as reflected in Section 8 of RA 7941 and as later adopted in Comelec’s resolution.

When asked for his reaction to the promulgation, Comelec chairperson George Garcia told CNN Philippines in a text message: “Agree 100%. I have the same position then and now.”