MANILA — The Commission on Elections (Comelec) said it would not proclaim on Thursday winning party-lists groups with pending disqualification cases before the poll body, citing precedent in previous elections.

In a press conference on Wednesday, Commissioner George Garcia said the Comelec, sitting as National Board of Canvassers (NBOC) for senators and party-lists, is prevented from proclaiming groups facing petitions for cancellation of their registration.

"Alam naman natin na noong nakaraan, basta ang disqualification petition ay against sa mismong party-list, hindi tayo nag-iissue ng certificate of proclamation. Pero kung ang disqualification ay patungkol lang sa nominees, ay nag-iisue tayo pabor sa party pero hindi sa nominee," Garcia said.

Garcia says Comelec will have to resolve first some issues hounding some party-list groups &/or their nominees before they can issue a certificate of proclamation.

Among winning party-list groups facing DQ cases are Kabataan & Gabriela after NTF-ELCAC linked them to CPP-NPA.

— ABS-CBN News (@ABSCBNNews) May 25, 2022

(We know that previously, as long as the disqualification petition is against the party-list itself, we do not issue a certificate of proclamation. But if the disqualification only involves the nominee, we issue a certificate of proclamation in favor of the party, but not the nominee.)

Garcia later insisted that party-lists groups facing cancellation cases would not be proclaimed.

The proclamation of party-list groups is set on Thursday, 4 p.m. at the Philippine International Convention Center.

Party-list groups assured of House seats but have cancellation cases include Kabataan and Gabriela.

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According to Gabriela, Garcia's statements were contrary to what happened in 2019.

"We beg to disagree on this. Gabriela Party-list was proclaimed as winning party-list in 2019 despite the fabricated disqualification case lodged by NTF-ELCAC days before the May 2019 polls," the group said in a tweet.

"We will not let this trumped-up disqualification case be made as basis to deny Filipino women genuine representation in Congress," Gabriela added in a statement.

Gabriela and Kabataan were accused by the controversial National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict's (NTF-ELCAC) of being linked to the communist movement.

NTF-ELCAC sought the cancellation of the 2 groups' registration before the Comelec.

Kabataan had dubbed this as a "plain and brazen red tagging" and an "illegal act" of silencing opposition to the government, while Gabriela said it was a "sinister move to disenfranchise millions of Filipino women."

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