Party-list race topnotcher Buhay Hayaan Yumabong (Buhay) will get
three seats in the House of Representatives during the 16th Congress,
Commission on Elections Chairman Sixto Brillantes Jr. said.
Brillantes said Buhay, which was proclaimed on Friday, is the only
party-list to obtain three seats in the lower chamber. The party-list
group, known for its anti-Reproductive Health Law stance, garnered
1,056,689 (4.68%), according to Comelec's official tally as of 8:25 a.m.
Tuesday.
The thirteen other party-lists -- A Teacher, Bayan Muna, 1 Care,
Akbayan, Ako Bicol, Abono, OFW Family, Gabriela, COOP-NATCCO, AGAP,
Cibac, Magdalo and An Waray -- will get 2 seats each.
The 3 Buhay party-list nominees are Mariano Michael M. Velarde, Jr., Jose “Lito” L. Atienza, Jr. and William Irwin C. Tieng.
Brillantes said the top 14 party-list winners proclaimed on Friday
will take half of the 58 slots reserved for Congress: three for Buhay
and 26 for the 13 others.
"The first fourteen will be getting 29 seats, the remaining would be another 29, to make it 58," Brillantes told ANC.
The remaining winning party-list groups, meanwhile, will get one seat each, Brillantes said.
Based on the Comelec's initial computation, a party-list group can
earn at least 1 congressional seat by getting 2 percent of the votes
cast, which is equivalent to around 200,000 votes.
Additional seats may be available to them, as well as to groups with
less than 2% of the votes, depending on their share of the party-list
votes.
The Comelec is set to proclaim more party-list winners today, the poll body's chief said. Brillantes, however, said Comelec is withholding the proclamation of the remaining 5 party-lists because the standings can still be affected by some 36,000 votes which will come from the results of special elections.
"We will be proclaiming the remaining party-lists up to at least number 53, depending on the computation of 36,000 votes on special elections to be conducted tomorrow. That's the only hanging issue now," he said.
