MANILA -- A party-list group has petitioned the Supreme Court (SC) to compel the Commission on Elections (Comelec) to include it in the party-list race for the May 13 mid-term elections.
In its nine-page suit, the Pambansang Kilusan ng Nagkakaisang Manggagawa or Kilos na Manggagawa asked the SC to direct the poll body to include it in the official roster of party-list candidates and official ballots to be printed.
It also asked the High Court to issue a temporary restraining order against the Comelec's ruling that barred it from joining the mid-term elections.
The group, which claims to be a "sectoral organization consisting of workers, employees, informal labor, and other members of the working class," filed a petition for registration as party-list representative before the Comelec on April 30, 2018.
On Aug. 10, 2018, the Comelec's 2nd Division dismissed the petition for registration of the group and on Dec. 19, 2018, its en banc issued a resolution denying its motion for reconsideration.
The Comelec dismissed the petition for failing to comply with the requirements of Resolution No. 9366, particularly Section 6 thereof which provides that the petition must state that the petitioner is not an adjunct of or a project or an entity or assisted by the government.
The group, meanwhile, claimed in its petition that it does not receive any support from any organization, whether directly or indirectly, for partisan political activities, a phrase which covers the requirement.
"(I)f petitioner does not receive any support from any organization, it follows that it is not a project of entity assisted by the government," the group said. (PNA)
