Progressive party-list groups Kabataan and Piston denounced what they called “systematic harassment” by the Commission on Elections (Comelec) bent on disqualifying candidates critical of the Aquino administration.

Members of Kabataan and Piston held a picket-protest in front of the main office of the Comelec to condemn the election body for singling them out, while failing to penalize other candidates and party-list groups who happen to support, or are supported by, the administration.

“We march to Comelec not just to slam unsubstantiated charges against Kabataan and Piston. The youth slams the Aquino administration for assaulting progressive party-lists on all fronts – from mundane trumped-up disqualification cases to extrajudicial killings and illegal arrests of members and volunteers,” said Kabataan President Terry Ridon.

Despite submitting proof of compliance to election rules, including extensive photo documentation, Comelec still pursued the case, apparently adamant to disqualify said party-lists, according to Kabataan.

Kabataan believes that the harassments are part of the Aquino regime’s “grand scheme” to limit participation and even eradicate progressive party-lists.

“Such political harassment instigated by Comelec is part and parcel of the Aquino regime’s systematic attack against members of the Makabayan bloc, which the regime regards as its staunchest critic, being the only genuine opposition in the country’s current political arena,” Ridon explained.

Kabataan and Piston form part of the progressive alliance of parties called Makabayang Koalisyon ng Mamamayan (Makabayan).

Other attacks

Meanwhile, several cases of harassment of members of Makabayan have been reported in the past weeks, including thefts and physical abuse of members especially in far-flung provinces showing that the Aquino regime has also used “punitive tactics” to violently harass members and volunteers, the group said.

Last February, Bayan Muna member Cristina Morales Jose was killed by suspected military elements in Davao. Jose was one of the leaders of Barug Katawhan, an organization of Typhoon Pablo victims.

“In our experience in past elections, human rights violations committed against members of progressive partylists escalate as the polls draw near. The Aquino administration’s abusive tactics are no different from his predecessors like Gloria Arroyo who also used all forces to limit the participation of progressive partylists,” Ridon said.

The disqualification case against Kabataan and Piston is only the tip of the iceberg. Progressive partylists have always been the subject of the regime’s ire, and it is not surprising that Aquino is using his puppets in Comelec to further his agenda of undermining genuine people’s participation, according to Ridon.

The youth leader said that as long as the poll body continues its politically motivated attacks against Kabataan and Piston, youth groups and other marginalized sectors will also continue protesting in the coming days.

“The youth will not take the regime’s attack sitting down. We will intensify the fight, in courts of law and in the streets,” Ridon ended.

Questionable monitoring

Progressive senatorial candidate Teddy Casiño questioned Comelec’s methods in monitoring the spending of candidates for advertising in TV and radio.

“In all honesty, I am surprised by reports that say I am among the top 5 candidates who have the longest TV airtime, leaving the impression that I am a big TV ad spender. That is farthest from the truth,” said Casiño.

Casiño revealed that Makabayan only spent P3.77-Million for his TV advertisments, amounting to a mere 15.5 minutes of airtime. This is a smaller amount than that of other senatorial candidates with deep pockets.

He said that the error in Comelec’s monitoring lies in its reliance on network logs and not actual monitoring.

“(T)he Commission had applied a disproportionate method of counting TV airtime, putting at par the national and provincial TV ads amid a large disparity in cost and reach. It is like treating as equal in height a midget and a giant,” Casiño added.

For its part, Bayan Muna, also questioned the Comelec monitoring result. Bayan Muna Representative and first nominee Neri Colmenares said he is surprised to hear that Bayan Muna is among the top advertisers in radio airtime usage.

“The news that we are named as one of the top advertisers in radio is surprising because we don’t even have enough funds to launch a nationwide campaign like other political parties and bogus party-lists. In reality, we rely heavily on our thousands of volunteers all over the nation to campaign for our party-list,” he said.