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Veterans Federation Party v. COMELEC G.R. No. 136781. October 6, 2000

1. The 20% allocation for party-list representatives in the Constitution is not mandatory but rather a ceiling. Congress has the power to define the mechanics of the party-list system and deemed a 2% threshold was necessary. 2. The 2% threshold and 3-seat limit in the law are constitutional as they ensure only parties with sufficient constituent support are represented. 3. A formula is provided to determine the total number of party-list representatives and additional seats for parties are calculated based on their proportion of the votes. The party with the most votes gets the first additional seats and others are allotted based on their proportion of that leading party's votes.

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39 views2 pages

Veterans Federation Party v. COMELEC G.R. No. 136781. October 6, 2000

1. The 20% allocation for party-list representatives in the Constitution is not mandatory but rather a ceiling. Congress has the power to define the mechanics of the party-list system and deemed a 2% threshold was necessary. 2. The 2% threshold and 3-seat limit in the law are constitutional as they ensure only parties with sufficient constituent support are represented. 3. A formula is provided to determine the total number of party-list representatives and additional seats for parties are calculated based on their proportion of the votes. The party with the most votes gets the first additional seats and others are allotted based on their proportion of that leading party's votes.

Uploaded by

Hoven Macasinag
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Veterans Federation Party v.

 COMELEC 
G.R. No. 136781. October 6, 2000

Facts:
COMELEC proclaimed 14 party­list representatives from 13 parties which obtained at least 2% 
of  the  total  number  of  votes  cast  for  the  party­list  system  as  members  of  the  House  of 
Representatives. Upon petition for respondents, who were party­list organizations, it proclaimed 
38 additional party­list representatives although they obtained less than 2% of the total number 
of votes cast for the party­list system on the ground that under the Constitution, it is mandatory 
that  at  least  20%  of  the  members  of  the  House  of  Representatives  come  from  the  party­list 
representatives. 

Issue:
1.  Whether  or  not  the  twenty  percent  allocation  for  party­list  representatives  mentioned  in 
Section 5 (2), Article VI of the Constitution, mandatory or is it merely a ceiling? In other words, 
should the twenty percent allocation for party­list solons be filled up completely and all the time?

2.  Whether  or  not  the  two  percent  threshold  requirement  and  the  three­seat  limit  provided  in 
Section 11 (b) of RA 7941 constitutional?

3. How should the additional seats of a qualified party be determined?

Ruling:
1.  It  is  not  mandatory.  It  merely  provides  a  ceiling  for  the  party­list  seats  in  the  House  of 
Representatives.  The  Constitution  vested  Congress  with  the  broad  power  to  define  and 
prescribe  the  mechanics  of  the  party­list  system  of  representatives.  In  the  exercise  of  its 
constitutional prerogative, Congress deemed it necessary to require parties participating in the 
system to obtain at least 2% of the total votes cast for the party list system to be entitled to a 
party­list seat. Congress wanted to ensure that only those parties having a sufficient number of 
constituents deserving of representation are actually represented in Congress.

FORMULA FOR 

determination of total number of party­list representatives =  #district representatives/.80 x .20

additional  representatives  of  first  party  =  #  of  votes  of  first  party/  #  of  votes  of  party  list 
system

additional seats for concerned party =  # of votes of concerned party/ # votes of first party x 
additional seats for concerned party

2. Yes. In imposing a two percent threshold, Congress wanted to ensure that only those parties, 
organizations  and  coalitions  having  a  sufficient  number  of  constituents  deserving  of 
representation  are  actually  represented  in  Congress.  This  intent  can  be  gleaned  from  the 
deliberations  on  the  proposed  bill.  The  two  percent  threshold  is  consistent  not  only  with  the 
intent  of  the  framers  of  the  Constitution  and  the  law,  but  with  the  very  essence  of 
"representation." Under a republican or representative state, all government authority emanates 
from  the  people,  but  is  exercised  by  representatives  chosen  by  them.  But  to  have  meaningful 
representation,  the  elected  persons  must  have  the  mandate  of  a  sufficient  number  of  people. 
Otherwise, in a legislature that features the party­list system, the result might be the proliferation 
of small groups which are incapable of contributing significant legislation, and which might even 
pose  a  threat  to  the  stability  of  Congress.  Thus,  even  legislative  districts  are  apportioned 
according  to  "the  number  of  their  respective  inhabitants,  and  on  the  basis  of  a  uniform  and 
progressive ratio" to ensure meaningful local representation.

3. Step One. There is no dispute among the petitioners, the public and the private respondents, 
as well as the members of this Court that the initial step is to rank all the participating parties, 
organizations and coalitions from the highest to the lowest based on the number of votes they 
each received. Then the ratio for each party is computed by dividing its votes by the total votes 
cast for all the parties participating in the system. All parties with at least two percent of the total 
votes are guaranteed one seat each. Only these parties shall be considered in the computation 
of additional seats. The party receiving the highest number of votes shall thenceforth be referred 
to as the “first” party.

Step Two. The next step is to determine the number of seats the first party is entitled to, in order 
to be able to compute that for the other parties. Since the distribution is based on proportional 
representation,  the  number  of  seats  to  be  allotted  to  the  other  parties  cannot  possibly  exceed 
that to which the first party is entitled by virtue of its obtaining the most number of votes.

Step Three The next step is to solve for the number of additional seats that the other qualified 
parties are entitled to, based on proportional representation.

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