(From left) Noraida Akad head of the education and information committee of the alliance Democrat party (ALLIED), Timuay Rene Batitao, head of Organization of the Teduray and Lambangian Conference (OTLAC), and Musa Damao, secretary of the Mindanao Development Initiatives Assembly. (FactsFirst with Christian Esguerra Podcast)
Three political parties in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) promised to institute a strict selection process to prevent political clans from hijacking seats in the new region’s first-ever parliamentary elections next year.
Half of the parliament will be composed of parties picked through a system of proportional representation, a process requiring groups to focus on platform and advocacies.
But as shown in the nationwide party-list system, it could also be prone to abuse by well-entrenched political clans seeking to occupy seats beyond congressional districts.
“Kahit na sa election code ng Pilipinas ay very clear naman na hindi dapat gawin ‘yun, pero tulad nga ng sinabi ay nandiyan pa rin ang gano’ng sistema na nangyayari,” said Timuay Rene Batitao, head of Organization of the Teduray and Lambangian Conference (OTLAC), in the “Fact First” podcast.
Batitao’s OTLAC, along with the Alliance Democrats (ALLIED) and the Mindanao Development Initiatives Assembly, are in the thick of preparations for next year’s regional elections despite the push from BARMM leaders to reset the democratic exercise to 2025.
Forty percent of the seats in the region’s parliament will be composed of representatives elected from districts, while the remaining 10 percent will be reserved for groups such as women and indigenous peoples.
Voter education
Noraida Akad, head of the education and information committee of ALLIED, cited the need to educate voters ahead of the elections.
“Education sa community kung sino yung dapat iboto kasi matagal na itong politics na ito [pero] paulit ulit pa rin ang binoboto nila,” she said.
Batitao said: “Maliban sa sinasabi niyong i-educate, ang isang magandang bagay ay actors of the government should enforce the mandate of the law.”
He said that people had been aware of vote buying yet they still do it, so he suggested that the “actors” of the government should implement the “meaning and the spirit” of the law.
Political financing
Political financing is one of the challenges faced by political parties, said Musa Damao, secretary of the Mindanao Development Initiatives Assembly.
“Kailangan gagawa kami ng resource generation projects na at least hindi kami mahahawakan ng isang political clan…alliance yun ang magiging solusyon,” Damao said.
However, he said that this would be based on platforms that have “redline” or “non-negotiables” that would set boundaries.
Akad said that political financing is the backbone of the parties, allowing its candidates to campaign extensively.
“Kailangan resourceful ang organization mo para hindi ka na hihingi at hindi ma-hijack ng political clans,” Akad said.
“Kasi kung sasama tayo sa kanila mawawala yung essence kung bakit natin binuo yung ‘tong political party na meron tayo ngayon,” she added.
Batitao said it would also be good to have an alliance with national parties to help in financial resources. Hazel N. Camba and Anne Beatrice Lagman