SC upholds cancellation of An Waray party-list registration

The Supreme Court (SC) has upheld the ruling of the Commission on Elections (Comelec) that canceled the registration of the An Waray party-list.

In a statement, the SC said the Comelec has exclusive jurisdiction to the rule on the cancellation of party-list registrations under the Party-List System Act.

In June 2023, the Comelec’s Second Division canceled the registration of the party-list for allowing its second nominee, Victoria Isabel Noel, to sit as a member of the House of Representatives without proper authority.

The poll body in August affirmed the Second Division’s resolution and denied the motion for reconsideration filed by the An Waray party-list for lack of merit.

This prompted the organization to file the present petition before the High Court, where they  questioned the jurisdiction of the Comelec in canceling its registration since the House allegedly has jurisdiction over cases involving the qualification of its members.

In its ruling, the SC said that the House of Representatives Electoral Tribunal (HRET) is limited only to contests relating to the election, returns, and qualification of incumbent House of Representatives members.

The court said it applied a test that found that the petition does not fall under the cases cognizable by the HRET.

“Further, the Court held that, although it is An Waray which is voted for in the ballots during elections, it does not become a ‘Member’ of the HoR. Rather, it is its nominee who assumes as HoR Member, and who must have the qualifications and none of the disqualifications,” the SC PIO said.

According to the High Court, the party-list violated NBOC Resolution No. 13-030(PL)/ 0004, which declared that An Waray was entitled to only one seat in the final distribution, when it allowed Victoria Noel to remain in her seat.

Motion for reconsideration

When sought for comment, former An Waray Representative Florencio “Bem” Noel, the brother of Victoria Noel, said they will exhaust all legal remedies, including the filing of a motion for reconsideration.

“Siyempre [Of course], we will always respect the highest court… of the land but we will exhaust all legal remedies available to us,” Noel told reporters.

Bem Noel said they believed that they did not violate any law.

“Until now, they have not expressly put kung ano sa batas ang viniolate namin. Sinasabi ng desisyon na nag violate daw kayo ng partylist law. Alin doon? Alin doon specifically,” he said.

(Until now, they have not expressly put what law we violated. The decision stated that we violated a party-list law. Which one? Which one specifically?) — RSJ, GMA Integrated News