BANAT vs.

COMELEC
G.R. No. 179271. April 21, 2009

BANAT: BARANGAY ASSOCIATION FOR NATIONAL ADVANCEMENT AND

TRANSPARENCY

FACTS:
On 2002, BANAT filed a Petition to Proclaim the Full Number of Party-List Representatives
Provided by the Constitution because the COMELEC have recently been quoted in the national
papers that the it is duty bound to and shall implement the Veterans ruling, that it will apply the
Panganiban formula in allocating party-list seats. There were no intervenors in BANAT's petition
before the NBC.

Under Sec. 11 of RA 7941 (Party-List System Act): Parties will be ranked from highest to lowest
number of votes garnered during elections; parties with at least 2% of the total votes for the
party-list system are entitled to 1 seat each; those with more than 2% can have additional seats
in proportion to their total number of votes and; each party shall be entitled to a maximum of 3
seats

Under Sec. 12 of RA 7941: (formula prescribed in Allocation of Party-List Seats) COMELEC will
rank, tally, and allocate party-list representatives according to percentage of votes obtained
against the total nationwide votes cast and; additional seats will be allocated in proportion to the
percentage of votes obtained by each group: in relation to total nationwide votes, and after
deducting corresponding votes of those allotted seats under 2% threshold rule.

On 2007, the COMELEC, sitting as the National Board of Canvassers (NBC), promulgated NBC
Resolution No. 07-60, which proclaimed 13 parties as winners in the party-list elections based
on the presumptive 2% threshold of 334,462 votes from the projected maximum total number of
party- list votes of 16,723,121. The NBC then promulgated NBC Resolution No. 07-72, declaring
allocation of additional seats according to Veterans formula (First Party Rule) wherein BUHAY
garnered the most number of votes (1,178,747, which is 7.2% of the total votes for the party-list
system) therefore, BUHAY is the “first party” according to Veterans and CIBAC. With 7.2%
votes, it is entitled to 2 additional seats according to Veterans formula for allocating additional
seats for the first party. Other parties entitled to additional seats follow a different formula, based
on number of additional seats allocated to the first party. Four others (Bayan Muna, CIBAC,
GABRIELA, and APEC) were entitled to 1 additional seat each.

Acting on BANAT's petition, NBC promulgated NBC Resolution No. 07-88 wherein it denied
BANAT’s for being moot and academic. BANAT filed petition for certiorari and mandamus
assailing the said resolution. Bayan Muna, Abono, and A Teacher asked the COMELEC, acting
as NBC, to reconsider its decision to use the Veterans formula because the said formula is
violative of the Constitution and of R.A. No. 7941, but such was denied by COMELEC.

ISSUES:

1. WON the 20% allocation for party-list representatives in Section 5(2), Article VI of the
Constitution is mandatory or merely a ceiling?

2. WON the three-seat limit in Section 11(b) of RA 7941 is constitutional?

3. WON the 2% threshold prescribed in Section 11(b) of RA 7941 to qualify for one seat is
constitutional?

4. How shall the party-list representative seats be allocated?

5. WON the Constitution prohibit major political parties from participating in the party-list
elections? If not, can the major political parties be barred from participating in the party-list
elections?

RULING:
WHEREFORE, we PARTIALLY GRANT the petition. We SET ASIDE the Resolution of the
COMELEC dated 3 August 2007 in NBC No. 07-041 (PL) as well as the Resolution dated 9 July
2007 in NBC No. 07-60. We declare unconstitutional the two percent threshold in the
distribution of additional party-list seats. The allocation of additional seats under the Party-
List System shall be in accordance with the procedure used in Table 3 of this Decision. Major
political parties are disallowed from participating in party-list elections. This Decision is
immediately executory. No pronouncement as to costs.

RATIO:
1. Section 5(1) of Article VI of the Constitution, left the determination of the number of the
members of the House of Representatives to Congress: "The House of Representatives shall be
composed of not more than two hundred and fifty members, unless otherwise fixed by law,...”
The 20% allocation of party-list representatives is merely a ceiling; party-list representatives
cannot be more than 20% of the members of the House of Representatives. However, it is not
mandatory that the 20% shall be filled.

2. Yes. Section 11 (b) of R.A No. 7941 states that each party, organization, or coalition shall
be entitled to not more than 3 seats. The three-seat cap, as a limitation to the number of seats
that a qualified party- list organization may occupy, remains a valid statutory device that
prevents any party from dominating the party- list elections.

3. No. Section 11b of RA 7941 is unconstitutional. In computing the allocation of additional

seats, the continued operation of the 2% threshold for the distribution of the additional seats as
found in Section 11 (b) of R.A. No. 7941 is unconstitutional. The continued operation of the
2% threshold in the distribution of the additional seats frustrates the attainment of the
permissive ceiling that 20% of the members of the House of Representatives shall consist of
party-list representatives. It presents an unwarranted obstacle to the full implementation of
Section 5(2), Article VI of the Constitution and prevents the attainment of “the broadest possible
representation of party, sectoral or group interests in the House of Representatives.”

4. Instead, the 2% rule should mean that if a party-list garners 2% of the votes cast, then it is
guaranteed a seat, and not “qualified”. This allows those party-lists garnering less than 2% to
also get a seat. In determining the allocation of seats for party-list representatives under Section
11 of R.A. No. 7941, the following procedure shall be observed:
RANKING: 1. The parties, organizations, and coalitions shall be ranked from the highest to the
lowest based on the number of votes they garnered during the elections.
2% GUARANTY. 2. The parties, organizations, and coalitions receiving at least two percent
(2%) of the total votes cast for the party-list system shall be entitled to one guaranteed seat
each.
ADDITIONAL SEATS 3. Those garnering sufficient number of votes, according to the ranking in
paragraph 1, shall be entitled to additional seats in proportion to their total number of votes until
all the additional seats are allocated.
LIMITATION. 4. Each party, organization, or coalition shall be entitled to not more than three (3)
seats. In computing the additional seats, the guaranteed seats shall no longer be included
because they have already been allocated, at one seat each, to every two-percenter. Thus, the
remaining available seats for allocation as “additional seats” are the maximum seats reserved
under the Party List System less the guaranteed seats. Fractional seats are disregarded in the
absence of a provision in R.A. No. 7941 allowing for a rounding off of fractional seats.

5. No. Neither the Constitution nor R.A. No. 7941 prohibits major political parties from
participating in the party- list system. On the contrary, the framers of the Constitution clearly
intended the major political parties to participate in party-list elections through their sectoral
wings. In defining a "party" that participates in party-list elections as either "a political party or a
sectoral party", R.A. No. 7941 also clearly intended that major political parties will participate in
the party-list elections. Excluding the major political parties in party-list elections is manifestly
against the Constitution, the intent of the Constitutional Commission, and R.A. No. 7941. R.A.
No. 7941 and the deliberations of the Constitutional Commission state that major political
parties are allowed to establish, or form coalitions with, sectoral organizations for electoral or
political purposes. However, by a vote of 8-7, the Supreme Court continued to disallow major
political parties (UNIDO, LABAN, etc) from participating in the party-list elections. Hence,
major political parties cannot participate in the party-list elections, directly or indirectly.

Four inviolable parameters of Philippine-style party-list election as stated in Veterans:

1. the twenty percent allocation — the combined number of all party-list congressmen shall not
exceed twenty percent of the total membership of the House of Representatives, including those
elected under the party list;
2. the two percent threshold — only those parties garnering a minimum of two percent of the
total valid votes cast for the party-list system are "qualified" to have a seat in the House of
Representatives;
3. the three-seat limit — each qualified party, regardless of the number of votes it actually
obtained, is entitled to a maximum of three seats; that is, one "qualifying" and two additional
seats;
4. proportional representation — the additional seats which a qualified party is entitled to shall
be computed "in proportion to their total number of votes".

(In computing the additional seats, the percentage of votes garnered by each party-list
candidate is arrived at by dividing the number of votes garnered by each party by
15,950,900, the total number of votes cast for party- list candidates. There are two steps
in the second round of seat allocation. First, the percentage is multiplied by the
remaining available seats, 38, which is the difference between the 55 maximum seats
reserved under the Party-List System and the 17 guaranteed seats of the two-
percenters. The whole integer of the product of the percentage and of the remaining
available seats corresponds to a party's share in the remaining available seats. Second,
we assign one party-list seat to each of the parties next in rank until all available seats
are completely distributed. We distributed all of the remaining 38 seats in the second
round of seat allocation. Finally, we apply the three-seat cap to determine the number of
seats each qualified party-list candidate is entitled. – Table 3.Distribution of Available
Party-List Seats)