G.R. No. 179271.

April 21, 2009

I
BARANGAY ASSOCIATION FOR NATIONAL ADVANCEMENT AND TRANSPARENCY (BANAT), petitioner vs.
COMMISSION ON ELECTIONS (sitting as the National Board of Canvassers), respondents.
GR. No. 207851 April 21, 2009

Carpio, J.

II SYLLABUS TOPIC

Composition, Qualifications and Term of Office

II RELEVANT FACTS
I

In the 2007 party-list elections in the Philippines, a total of 15,950,900 votes were cast for
93 parties. On June 27, 2002, BANAT filed a petition before the National Board of Canvassers (NBC)
to proclaim the full number of party-list representatives as mandated by the Constitution. This
petition was filed because the Commission on Elections (COMELEC) had indicated its intention to
implement the Veterans ruling and the Panganiban formula for allocating party-list seats.

On July 9, 2007, the COMELEC, acting as the NBC, promulgated NBC Resolution No. 07-60,
proclaiming thirteen parties as winners in the party-list elections. These parties were Buhay Hayaan
Yumabong (BUHAY), Bayan Muna, Citizens' Battle Against Corruption (CIBAC), Gabriela's Women
Party (Gabriela), Association of Philippine Electric Cooperatives (APEC), A Teacher, Akbayan!
Citizen's Action Party (AKBAYAN), Alagad, Luzon Farmers Party (BUTIL), Cooperative-Natco
Network Party (COOP-NATCCO), Anak Pawis, Alliance of Rural Concerns (ARC), and Abono.

The resolution explained that the two percent threshold for party-list seats was set at 334,462 votes.
BANAT's petition was separately addressed, and they deferred the proclamation of Bagong
Alyansang Tagapagtaguyod ng Adhikaing Sambayanan (BATAS) due to a dispute.

Subsequently, NBC Resolution No. 07-72 determined the additional seats allocated to the
aforementioned parties based on the Veterans formula, and Buhay obtained the highest number of
votes among them. The resolution allocated two additional seats to Buhay and one additional seat to
each of the other parties.

Acting on BANAT's petition, the NBC promulgated NBC Resolution No. 07-88, in which BANAT
requested that the full number of party-list representatives mandated by the Constitution be
proclaimed. They also sought a harmonization of the 2% threshold votes with the Constitution and
the allocation of seats based on the percentage of votes obtained by each party-list group.

IV ISSUE

Whether or not 20% allocation for party-list representatives is mandatory.

V RULING AND VERDICT

No, The 20% allocation for party-list representatives is a mere ceiling, which means that the number
of party-list representatives shall not exceed 20% of the total number of the members of the
lower house. However, it is not mandatory that the 20% shall be filled.