CHANGING RULES IN

THE PARTY LIST

SYSTEM
ANG BAGONG BAYANI
v.
COMELEC
GR 147589
2001
FACTS
Petitioners challenged the Comelec’s Omnibus Resolution
No. 3785, which approved the participation of 154
organizations and parties, including those herein
impleaded, in the 2001 party-list elections. Petitioners
sought the disqualification of private respondents, arguing
mainly that the party-list system was intended to benefit
the marginalized and underrepresented; not the
mainstream political parties, the non-marginalized or
overrepresented. Unsatisfied with the pace by which
Comelec acted on their petition, petitioners elevated the
issue to the Supreme Court. 
ISSUE
1. Whether or not political parties may participate in the party-list
elections.
2. Whether or not the party-list system is exclusive to
'marginalized and underrepresented' sectors and organizations.
Participation of Political Parties
Neither the Constitution nor R.A. No. 7941 prohibits major
political parties from participating in the party-list system.

Section 3 of RA 7941 expressly states that a "party" is "either a

political party or a sectoral party or a coalition of parties."
Marginalized and Underrepresented

That political parties may participate in the party-list elections

does not mean, however, that any political party -- or any
organization or group for that matter -- may do so. The
requisite character of these parties or organizations must be
consistent with the purpose of the party-list system, as laid
down in the Constitution and RA 7941.
SUPREME COURT GUIDELINES:
1. The parties or organizations must represent the marginalized and
underrepresented;
2. Political parties who wish to participate must comply with this policy;
3. The religious sector may not be represented;
4. The party or organization must not be disqualified under Section 6 of R.A.
7941;
5. The Party or organization must not be an adjunct or project organized or an
entity funded or assisted by the government;
6. Its nominees must likewise comply with the requirements of the law; and
7. The nominee must likewise be able to contribute to the formulation and
enactment of legislation that will benefit the nation.
BANAT CASE
In 2009, by a vote of 8-7, the Court stretched further the
Ang Bagong Bayani ruling. In BANAT, the majority
officially excluded major political parties from
participating in party-list elections, abandoning even the
lip-service that Ang Bagong Bayani accorded to the 1987
Constitution and R.A. No. 7941.
THE NEW RULING
ATONG PAGLAUM
v.
COMELEC
GR 203766
FACTS
Atong Paglaum involved 54 Petitions for Certiorari and
Petitions for Certiorari and Prohibition filed by 52 party-
list groups against COMELEC for disqualifying them
from participating in the May 13, 2013 party-list
elections. One of the main reasons for the disqualification
was their failure to represent the marginalized and
underrepresented.
The COMELEC merely followed the guidelines set in the
cases of Ang Bagong Bayani and BANAT. However, the
Supreme Court remanded the cases back to the
COMELEC as the Supreme Court now provides for new
guidelines which abandoned some principles established
in the two aforestated cases.
The new guidelines are as follows:
I. Parameters. In qualifying party-lists, the COMELEC
must use the following parameters:
1. Three different groups may participate in the party-list
system: (1) national parties or organizations,
(2) regional parties or organizations, and
(3) sectoral parties or organizations.
2. National parties or organizations and regional parties
or organizations do not need to organize along sectoral
lines and do not need to represent any “marginalized
and underrepresented” sector.
3. Political parties can participate in party-list elections
provided they register under the party-list system and do
not field candidates in legislative district elections. 

▫ A political party, whether major or not, that fields candidates in

legislative district elections can participate in party-list elections only
through its sectoral wing that can separately register under the party-
list system.

■ The sectoral wing is by itself an independent sectoral party, and is

linked to a political party through a coalition.
4. Sectoral parties or organizations may either be
"marginalized and underrepresented" or lacking in "well-
defined political constituencies

▫ The sectors that are "marginalized and underrepresented" include labor,

peasant, fisherfolk, urban poor, indigenous cultural communities,
handicapped, veterans, and overseas workers.

▫ The sectors that lack "well-defined political constituencies" include

professionals, the elderly, women, and the youth.
5. A majority of the members of sectoral parties or organizations
that represent the “marginalized and underrepresented” must
belong to the “marginalized and underrepresented” sector they
represent. Similarly, a majority of the members of sectoral
parties or organizations that lack “well-defined political
constituencies” must belong to the sector they represent.

6. National, regional, and sectoral parties or organizations shall not

be disqualified if some of their nominees are disqualified,
provided that they have at least one nominee who remains
qualified.
ANG LADLAD LGBT
PARTY v.
COMELEC
G.R. No. 190582
RULING
Ang Ladlad LGBT Party’s application for registration should be granted. Comelec’s
citation of the Bible and the Koran in denying petitioner’s application was a violation of the
non-establishment clause laid down in Article 3 section 5 of the Constitution. The
proscription by law relative to acts against morality must be for a secular purpose (that is,
the conduct prohibited or sought to be repressed is “detrimental or dangerous to those
conditions upon which depend the existence and progress of human society"), rather than
out of religious conformity. The Comelec failed to substantiate their allegation that
allowing registration to Ladlad would be detrimental to society.

The LGBT community is not exempted from the exercise of its constitutionally vested
rights on the basis of their sexual orientation. Laws of general application should apply
with equal force to LGBTs, and they deserve to participate in the party-list system on the
same basis as other marginalized and under-represented sectors. Discrimination based on
sexual orientation is not tolerated ---not by our own laws nor by any international laws to
which we adhere