After months of waiting, progressive party-list group Gabriela Women’s Party will once again set foot in the House of Representatives.
Commission on Elections (COMELEC) Chairman Atty. George Erwin Garcia confirmed that the group’s first nominee, Sarah Elago, will occupy the 64th party-list seat that needs to be filled in the lower chamber.
“Actually kung hindi tayo nagkakamali, officially ko nang babanggitin sa inyo, mukhang Gabriela party-list po yun,” Garcia said in an interview with DZMM Radyo Patrol 630.
He added, “Masasabi ko na sure na yun… Dito ko sa inyong programa unang nabanggit pero mas maganda pong nasasabi na natin upang mawala na yung agam-agam.”
According to Garcia, the decision follows the mandate of the 1987 Constitution, which requires that 20% of seats in the House of Representatives be allotted to party-list groups. Based on their computation, only 63 seats, or 19.8%, were currently filled by party-list representatives—one seat short of the constitutional requirement.
The COMELEC’s action came after its En Banc canceled the registration of the Duterte Youth Party-list for alleged “misrepresentation” of the sector it claims to represent. Although the group has elevated its appeal to the Supreme Court, the ruling stands for now.
Gabriela Women’s Party first gained a seat in the House of Representatives in 2004. Elago, meanwhile, is poised to return to the chamber after completing her term as representative of the Kabataan Party-list.