Maza hits Arroyo's son's bid as blatant disrespect of Partylist system

Makabayan-Nacionalista senatorial bet Liza Maza on Saturday hits Pampanga representative and presidential son Mikey Arroyo's bid for a Congressional seat which he aims to get by running as a party-list representative in the May 2010 elections, as blatant disrespect of the party-list system.

"Rep. Arroyo does not belong to any marginalized sector. He, therefore, has no right to run as a party-list representative," Maza said.

Section 5 of Republic Act No. 7941 or the Party-list System Act requires aspiring nominees to be “Filipino citizens belonging to marginalized and underrepresented sectors, organizations and parties.”

Maza said that Rep. Arroyo obviously failed to satisfy this requirement.

Maza challenged the Commission on Elections to uphold the Party-list System Law as well as a 2001 Supreme Court decision and immediately disqualify the president's eldest son should his name appear as nominee of any party-list organization.

The Supreme Court decision Maza cited states that: "...it is not enough for the candidate to claim representation of the marginalized and underrepresented, because representation is easy to claim and to feign. The party-list organization or party must factually and truly represent the marginalized and underrepresented constituencies mentioned in Section 5 [of the Party-list System Law]."

The three term representative of Gabriela - a genuine marginalized sector - warns of an "Arroyo House" if Rep. Arroyo succeeds in his bid for a Congressional seat.

“His candidacy is obviously part of 'the scheme' to sit his mother as Speaker of the House and then eventually as the Prime Minister of the country,” Maza said. ###