Commission on Elections Commissioner Rowena Guanzon said she will propose to include losing party-list groups in the one-year appointment ban from holding government office, the same way with losing political candidates.
The outspoken poll commissioner made the announcement in her twitter account following the appointment of former Communications Assistant Secretary Esther Margaux “Mocha” Uson as deputy administrator of the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration.
“I am appearing in the Committee of Senator Imee [Marcos]. [I] will propose ban should cover party-List nominees,” Guanzon said in her @commrguanzon tweet account.
“And party-list to put up bond. If nominee is DQ [disqualified], forfeit their bond,” she added.
Guanzon also retweeted another social media post which quoted her as saying: “They should not be a favored class because they are not a protected class.”
Earlier, Comelec spokesperson James Jimenez said Uson is not covered by the election ban, saying “the party-list nominees aren’t candidates per se. So the rule doesn’t apply to them.”
Under the rule, party-list representatives are indirectly elected via a party-list election wherein the voter votes for the party and not for the party’s nominee.
Party-list group AA-Kasosyo, of which Uson was a nominee, failed to secure a seat in the House of Representatives in the May 2019 elections.
The Senate committee on electoral reforms and people’s participation will tackle the issue next week.
