President Duterte’s “Draft Constitution for a Strong and Indissoluble Republic” proposes to double the number of party-list representatives in the House from 20 percent to 40 percent of all seats, Buhay Rep. Lito Atienza said Sunday.
“Offhand, we favor the proposal because it will allow underrepresented sectors to obtain greater representation in Congress,” Atienza, former three-term mayor of Manila, said.
“Senior citizens and women, for instance, may want to seek stronger representation. Even our teachers, who now comprise the nation’s largest group of professionals, may feel that they deserve a louder voice in Congress,” Atienza said.
The 1987 Constitution limits the members of the House of Representatives to no more than 250, unless otherwise fixed by law, with 20 percent of the seats reserved for party-list representatives.
At present, there are 292 sitting House members, with 233 elected by congressional district (80 percent) and 59 party-list representatives voted nationwide (20 percent).
The actual number of House seats has surpassed 250 since 1987 on account of the passage of laws creating new congressional districts in provinces or cities with rapidly increasing populations.
Atienza said the draft Constitution seeks to increase the number of House seats “to no more than 400, unless otherwise provided by law,” with 40 percent or up to 160 seats reserved for party-list representatives.
“Assuming party-list seats are doubled, the challenge for underrepresented sectors is for them to organize themselves so that they will actually get to elect their representatives,” Atienza said.
In the draft charter, Atienza said at least five sectors – labor, peasant, urban poor, indigenous peoples and fisherfolk groups – would be given a head start in the fight for increased proportional representation, with up to 80 seats reserved for them initially.
The draft charter states that for “three consecutive terms following the ratification of this Constitution, one half of the seats set aside for parties voted under the proportional representation system shall be reserved for labor, peasant, urban poor, indigenous peoples and fisherfolk groups, provided that they organize themselves as parties or coalitions of parties.”
The other half of the total seats allocated for proportional representation shall be open to all other political parties or coalitions thereof.