Party-list groups should voluntarily disclose bets -- Recto
It is hard to adjudge a group based on its acronyms alone

Groups running in the May 14 elections for party-list berths in the House of Representatives should take it upon themselves to publicly divulge their nominees' names in the wake of the refusal of the Commission of Elections to do the same.

"Voluntary disclosure is not a crime. This has been the opinion of every election lawyer in town. It is also the right thing to do," Sen. Ralph Recto said.

"There are nutritional data on a pack of noodles. If a consumer knows what�s inside a noodle pack he's planning to buy, why can't a voter know who's behind the party he is planning to vote for?" he said.

In fact "some party-list groups themselves have already revealed their nominees in the spirit of transparency and in good-natured political competition." Bayan Muna was the first to disclose its 10 nominees and Banat party-list also publicly revealed its four nominees, Recto noted.

"If we are to enshrine informed choice as a cardinal principle in our electoral process, then there should be full disclosure of the nominees who are battling it out in the more complicated party-list election," Recto explained.

While it is true that the people will vote for a group and not individuals in the party-list election, it is the leaders of that group who will exercise and enjoy the mandate to serve should that group garner the minimum number of votes for a seat, Recto said.

"The one who will implement it is as important as the party platform. Thus, not only the party but its nominees should be subjected to scrutiny. Party list groups have the duty to tell the people who are behind them," Recto said.

Under Republic Act 7941, or the Party-List Law, a group that clinches two percent of total votes cast for parties entitles it to one House seat, but not more than three, even if it corners more than six percent of votes.

The qualifications of its nominees would give the public an inkling of what kind of group a party is, Recto said. "It is hard to adjudge a group based on its acronyms alone," he said.

Recto said party-list nominees can either enhance or diminish the party's standing. "It can either add or subtract votes. So this disclosure thing cuts both ways," he said.