ANGKLA VS COMELEC

ANGKLA: Ang Partido Ng Mga Pilipinong Marino, Inc., (ANGKLA) and Serbisyo sa
Bayan Party (SBP) filed twin Petitions for Certiorari and Prohibition and for Intervention,
challenging the constitutionality of Section 11(b), Republic Act No. 7941 (R.A. No. 7941)
to the extent that it allows parties with more than two percent (2%) of the votes in the
party-list system to receive additional seats in proportion to their total number of votes.
ANGKLA and SBP argued that the provision leads to double-counting of votes and
violates the equal protection clause.
ISSUE:
Is the allocation of additional seats to party-lists in proportion to their total number of
votes, as stated in Section 11(b) of R.A. No. 7941, unconstitutional?
RULING:
No. According to Section 5(1), Article VI of the 1987 Constitution, the party-list system
must comprise twenty percent (20%) of the total membership in the House of
Representatives, while the qualifications for a seat are left to the discretion of the
legislature. Therefore, the Congress enacted R.A. No. 7941, which outlines the
procedure for electing party-lists and allocating seats to them. The features of R.A. No.
7941 prevent the allocation of seats solely based on absolute proportionality to prevent
any single party from dominating the party-list system and to ensure that 20% of the
seats in the House of Representatives are allocated to party-list representatives.
As per the landmark case of BANAT, Section 11(b) of R.A. No. 7941 should be applied
as follows:
Round 1:
(a) Participating parties, organizations, or coalitions are ranked in descending order
based on the votes they receive in the party-list election.
(b) Each party that receives at least two percent (2%) of the total votes cast for the
party-list system is guaranteed one seat each.

Round 2, Part 1:
(a) The percentage of votes each party, organization, or coalition receives is multiplied
by the remaining seats available after Round 1. All party-list participants are eligible for
this round, regardless of the percentage of votes they received.
(b) Party-list participants receive additional seats based on the product of (a). The
integer of the product corresponds to the party’s share in the remaining available seats.
No fractional seats are awarded.
(c) A party-list can receive no more than two (2) additional seats.
Round 2, Part 2:
(a) The party-list party, organization or coalition next in rank is allocated one additional
seat each until all available seats are distributed.
The BANAT formula aligns with the wording of Section 11(b) of the law and has stood
the test of time. The Court finds no compelling reason to depart from this formula.
Therefore, the allocation of additional seats to party-lists in proportion to their total
number of votes, as specified in Section 11(b) of R.A. No. 7941, is constitutional.