SC reverses Comelec decision, allows Igorot Warriors Party-List to run on May 9

By Rey E. Requejo

THE Supreme Court has reversed the decision of the Commission on Elections disallowing the registration and participation in the May 9 elections of the Igorot Warriors International, Inc. (IWI), a party-list composed of members of cultural minorities in the country.
In a ruling made public on April 25, the SC granted the petition of IWI which assailed its non-registration ordered by the Comelec’s First Division on Sept. 22, 2021 and affirmed by the poll body as a whole (en banc) on December 1, 2021.
“Wherefore, in view of the foregoing, the instant petition is granted. The order dated September 22, 2021 of the First Division of the Commission on Elections in SPP· No. 21-13 7 and Resolution No. 10375 dated Dec. 1, 2021 of the Commission on Elections En Banc are reversed and set aside insofar as lgorot Warriors International, Inc. is concerned,” the dispositive portion of the SC’s resolution stated.
The Comelec denied IWI’s registration mainly on several technical issues like “failure to allege that it is not a religious sect, or denomination, organization or association organized for religious purposes; failure to submit proof to enable a determination that all its members were made aware of the petition and had given their consent thereto; and that the list of members submitted by IWI failed to demonstrate that the majority of the persons enumerated therein belonged to the sectors that it seeks to represent.”
“All told, there exists grave abuse of discretion amounting to lack or excess of jurisdiction on the part of the Comelec En Banc,” the high court said.
“Ostensibly, its actions were not in harmony with the statutory policy to develop and guarantee a ‘full, free, and open party system in order to attain the broadest possible representation of party, sectoral or group interests in the House of Representatives by enhancing their chances to compete for and win seats in the legislature, and shall provide the simplest scheme possible,” it added.
“In construing election laws and regulations, it has been consistently held that they be construed liberally to give effect to the popular will, without resort to technicalities,” the SC said.
Petitioner IWI informed the SC it was organized in 2017 and registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission. It said it is an “sectoral organization without a well-defined political constituency.”
It represents “mainly Cordillerans (Igorots), members from sectoral groups who are Igorots by heart, and other Indigenous Cultural Communities, whether employed, self-employed, or jobless.”
“As an organization, it seeks to create a venue for continuous dialogue, analysis, and action on issues affecting lgorots and other ICCs,” it said.
When the Comelec en banc denied its appeal, IWI elevated its case to the SC. It told the SC that the “purposes for which it was organized does not, in any way, relate to any religion or religious sect, or denomination, organization, or association organized for religious purposes.”
It also pointed out that it had complied with the requirement of submitting proof that its members were made aware of the petition and had given their consent thereto, as explicitly stipulated in its petition for registration.
In its defense, the Comelec insisted that in denying IWI’s petition, it merely applied the provisions in Republic Act 7941, the Party-List System Act, on requirements for registration and participation in elections.
The SC said that based on IWI’s allegations in its petition, it is a sectoral organization, and it does not relate to any religion or religious sect or denomination that may lead to its disqualification.
It also said that IWI specifically stated in its petition before the Comelec that all its officers and members were made aware of the petition and have given their consent thereto.
The SC also said that “by virtue of the list of lWI officers and members, which it has attached in its petition for registration, indicating the corresponding tribes to which the respective officers and members belong to, this Court is persuaded that IWI had, in fact, satisfied the requirement to show that the majority of its membership and officers are bone fide members of the sector it seeks to represent, in this case, not merely Igorots but also other ICCs.”