Adi Joaquim Tolentino

Election watchdog Kontra Daya revealed that 55 percent, more than half of the 156 party lists in the 2025 elections, do not represent marginalized sectors.

Photos Courtesy of Danilo Arao/Commission on Elections.

According to a study by Kontra Daya posted on February 12, many party lists are linked to political dynasties, big business, or have questionable backgrounds, that attack the original intent of the party list system.

The study found that 40 party-list groups have links to political dynasties, 25 are connected to big businesses, and 18 have affiliations with the police or military.

 Seven groups are involved in corruption cases, 11 have questionable advocacies, and nine failed to provide sufficient information in their Commission on Elections (COMELEC) forms.

"They did not provide specific details on the nature of their work, preferring to give only general details," Kontra Daya said.

Some of the party-list groups flagged include 4PS, linked to the Abalos family; ACT-CIS, affiliated with the Tulfo and Yap families; Duterte Youth, known for its military connections and history of red-tagging; Ako Bicol, associated with Sunwest construction company; FPJ Panday Bayanihan, linked to the Poe Llamanzares, Dolor, and Paton families; Tingog Sinirangan, which has ties to the Romualdez family; and TGP, affiliated with Teravera, a DPWH contractor respectively.


The party-list system was established by the 1987 Constitution and Republic Act No. 7941 to provide representation for marginalized groups. 

However, a 2013 Supreme Court ruling allowed parties without a sectoral basis to participate, enabling political elites and business interests to exploit the system. 

The absence of an anti-dynasty law further prevents COMELEC from disqualifying groups with strong political or business ties that do not genuinely advocate for marginalized sectors.

''The nominees of sectoral parties or organizations that represent the 'marginalized and underrepresented' or that represent those who lack 'well-defined political constituencies' either must belong to their respective sectors or must have a track record of advocacy for their respective sectors,'' the SC added.
Comelec Chairman George Garcia acknowledged and called for the importance of voting wisely for legitimate representatives as they only accredited 43 new party-list groups out of more than 200 applications. 

"Sa bandang huli, sa mga mamamayan na lang tayo aasa na sila ay boboto ng tama at kung sino talaga ang nagrerepresenta ng sektor na kinabibilangan nila," he added.
Garcia called on Congress to amend the Party-list Law, RA 7941, to prevent further exploitation by political and business elites.

The upcoming mid-year elections will test if the party-list system can still fulfill its mandate to uplift marginalized sectors or remain for business interests.

Kontra Daya’s party list database is available online to help voters make informed decisions.