Philippine Supreme Court Resolutions > Year 2007 > May 2007 Resolutions > [G.R. No. 177548 : May 10, 2007] PHILIPPINE MINE SAFETY & ENVIRONMENT ASSOCIATION, ALSO KNOWN AS "MINERO" VS. COMMISSION ON ELECTIONS :

Quoted hereunder, for your information, is a resolution of this Court dated  May 10, 2007

G.R. No. 177548 (Philippine Mine Safety & Environment Association, also known as "MINERO" vs. Commission on Elections)

This is a petition for mandamus with a prayer for preliminary mandatory injunction to compel respondent Commission on Elections (COMELEC) to include petitioner in the Certified List for the 2007 Party-List Elections.

Petitioner was registered as a party and was certified in the 2001 party-list elections. It failed to get a seat or garner at least two per centum (2%) of the votes. In 2004, it did not participate. In January of 2007, it manifested its intention to participate in the 2007 party-list elections. COMELEC, however, did not include it in the Certified List published on May 5, 2007.

Petitioner claims that under Republic Act (R.A.) No. 7941 (Party-List System Act), all it has to do is manifest its intent to participate since it is already registered and COMELEC is duty bound to certify it.

The petition is not meritorious.

COMELEC is not duty bound to include petitioner in the list because it failed to get two per cent of the votes in 2001 and did not participate in the 2004 elections. Section 4 of R.A. No. 7941 states that a political party already registered with the COMELEC, as in the case of the herein petitioner, need not register anew. It only needs to file with the COMELEC, not later than ninety (90) days before the election, a manifestation of its desire to participate in the Party-List System. Correlatively, Section 6 of the said law provides for the grounds for refusal and/or cancellation of registration of a party. Thus,

Section 6. Refusal and/or Cancellation of Registration. - The COMELEC may, motu proprio or upon verified complaint of any interested party, refuse or cancel, after due notice and hearing, the registration of any national, regional or sectoral party, organization or coalition on any of the following grounds:

(1) It is a religious sect or denomination, organization or association organized for religious purposes;
(2) It advocates violence or unlawful means to seek its goal;
(3) It is a foreign party or organization;
(4) It is receiving support from any foreign government, foreign political party, foundation, organization, whether directly or through any of its officers or members or indirectly through third parties for partisan election purposes;
(5) It violates or fails to comply with laws, rules or regulations relating to elections;
(6) It declares untruthful statements in its petition;
(7) It has ceased to exist for at least one (1) year; or
(8) It fails to participate in the last two (2) preceding elections or fails to obtain at least two per centum (2%) of the votes cast under the party-list system in the two (2) preceding elections for the constituency in which it has registered (Emphasis supplied).

Since petitioner by its own admission failed to get 2% of the votes in 2001 and did not participate at all in the 2004 elections, it necessarily failed to get at least two per centum (2%) of the votes cast in the two preceding elections. COMELEC, therefore, is not duty bound to certify it.

WHEREFORE, the petition is DISMISSED for lack of merit.