53 party-lists poised to secure seats in Congress

National

THE latest unofficial election results indicated that 53 party-list groups are likely to secure representation in the 20th Congress, with 47 of these groups expected to win a single seat each.

The top six party-list groups, consisting of Akbayan, Duterte Youth, Tingog, 4Ps, ACT-CIS, and Ako Bicol, are projected to claim a total of 16 seats.

Specifically, the first four groups—Akbayan, Duterte Youth, Tingog, and 4Ps—are on track to secure three seats each, while ACT-CIS and Ako Bicol are expected to obtain two seats each.

This allocation leaves 47 seats to be distributed among the remaining party-list groups ranked after the top six according to partial and unofficial results on 2:41 p.m , May 15, a report by Philstar said.

Among the groups expected to secure one seat, 19 are either new contenders or returning party-lists, while 28 are incumbent organizations. Notably, Mamamayang Liberal (ML) and Kamanggagawa Party-List are among the new groups that have made a significant impact.

Despite performing poorly in pre-election polls, ML has made a surprising comeback, currently ranking 14th with over 546,000 votes, or 1.31% of the votes processed.

Former senator Leila de Lima, a staunch critic of Duterte, is poised to fill ML's seat after her recent acquittal from illegal drug trade charges.

However, some incumbent party-list groups are at risk of losing their seats in Congress.

Gabriela Women's Party, currently ranked 55th with 256,040 votes, accounting for just 0.62% of the votes recorded so far, trails closely behind the 53rd-ranked Swerte and 54th-ranked Philreca.

In the 2016 elections, the group secured over 1.36 million votes. However, its current tally shows a significant drop, reflecting a similar decline experienced by Bayan Muna.

he latter, once a top vote-getter, now has around 162,000 votes, putting it at risk of being delisted by the Commission on Elections (Comelec) due to consecutive election losses. If delisted, Bayan Muna would be barred from participating in the 2028 polls.

Earlier tallies showed Philreca with a chance to secure a seat, but the latest count has reduced the number of party-lists eligible for one.

Bayan Muna is facing a significant risk of being delisted by the Commission on Elections (Comelec) due to consecutive election losses, which could bar them from participating in the 2028 polls.

The party-list is urging Comelec to investigate and explain the vote discrepancies observed during the initial hours of transmission.

According to Bayan Muna, its chances of winning a seat were undermined by red-tagging, black propaganda, and disinformation meant to discredit the group and its candidates.

Several party-lists that previously performed well in the 2022 elections have seen significant drops in their rankings. Tutok to Win, which ranked 8th in the previous elections, has fallen to 138th out of 155 groups. PBA fared even worse, dropping from 43rd to 141st.

Angat Party-list, which claims to represent the peasant sector, slid from 17th to 63rd. Meanwhile, Probinsyano Ako and Api Party-list, which previously ranked 18th and 20th, respectively, now place 70th and 74th in the latest tally.

These projections are based on the seat allocation formula established by the Banat vs. Comelec Supreme Court ruling and the partial, unofficial results reported by media transparency servers as of 2:41 p.m. on May 15. The results account for 99.12% of election returns, representing a total of 56.962 million voters.(Sheila Mae Allego, CTU-TC Intern)