Political party, Akbayan, celebrates its 25th anniversary in Quezon City on January 30, 2023. The party announced it would shift its focus from the party-list system to local elections, aiming to better reach the concerns at the grassroots level, and contest for national electoral positions. Mark Demayo, ABS-CBN News/File

MANILA (UPDATED) — The Commission on Elections (Comelec) on Wednesday formally declared Akbayan Citizen's Action Party as a winning party-list group in the May 2022 elections, marked the group's return to the House of Representatives.

The decision grants Akbayan one seat, specifically naming former National Youth Commission member Percival Cendaña as the group's representative at the House.

Garcia has forwarded a communique to House Secretary General Reginald Velasco to report Cendaña’s proclamation.

Comelec Chairman George Erwin Garcia provided journalists with a copy of the Certificate of Proclamation, which was adopted by officials of the Commission en Banc, acting as the National Board of Canvassers.

Cendaña's slot was initially occupied by An Waray, a party-list group whose registration was canceled by the Comelec. The Supreme Court has affirmed the cancellation.

The issue on the cancellation of An Waray’s registration stemmed from a petition filed in 2019 by Danilo Pornias and Jude Acidre.

Pornias and Acidre — now a sitting congressman for Tingog party-list — claimed that An Waray second nominee Victoria Isabel Noel assumed office in the 16th Congress even when the group was entitled to only one seat.

In 2013, An Waray was one of the 14 party-list groups proclaimed as initial winners with one seat each.

READ: SC affirms cancellation of An Waray party-list registration

'BIG WIN FOR ALL PROGRESSIVE FORCES'

Akbayan Party president Rafaela David in a statement said Akbayan's return to the lower chamber is a "big win for all progressive, democratic, and reform-oriented forces in the country."

She stressed that their win was "based on their members' and supporters' [efforts and] not any legal technicality."

"It is a validation of the work of progressive, democratic and reform-oriented forces to rein in the abuses and counter the excesses committed during the previous administration," David said.

Akbayan is back in the House of Representatives after its over five-year absence from the chamber. 

Meanwhile, Sen. Risa Hontiveros, chairperson emeritus of Akbayan, said she has "no doubt" that Cendaña "will continue Akbayan's brand of principled politics in the House of Representatives."

"I look forward to seeing him hit the ground running in the Quad Comm hearings and in pushing for our lifelong advocacies like SOGIE Equality and Security of Tenure. Mabuhay, Rep. Perci! Mabuhay, mga kasama! Mabuhay, Akbayan!" the senator said.

Akbayan is one of the pioneer party-list organizations in Congress. It participated in and won the first party-list elections in 1998 and all succeeding races, except in 2019.

OVER 160 CHOICES

Meanwhile, Filipino voters are expected to have more than 160 party-list organizations to choose from in the 2025 elections, Garcia said.

This number includes 42 new organizations and at least seven groups that have applied to change their name "for the purposes of the campaign." More organizations can still be added before the Comelec en banc wraps up its evaluation of groups applying for accreditation and registration.

In the 2022 national elections, around 70 party-list groups were accredited by the Comelec.

"Asahan ninyo within this week, mare-release namin yung kabuuan na bilang ng mga party-list at yung mga pangalan ng mga party-list na makakapag-participate sa ating halalan sa 2025," said Garcia.