NAMFREL

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State subsidy for Philippine political parties?

from NAMFREL Election Monitor Vol.2, No.10

There is a pending bill in Congress on political party strengthening that is up for approval just before Congress goes on recess in June. Introduced by Rep. Rufus Rodriguez, et al, the proposed bill (a substitute bill to HB nos. 49 and 403), seeks to introduce reforms in party membership, platform, and vision. It emphasizes the importance of membership contributions in the operations of a party, and to allow only the dues-paying members to elect the party's candidates for elections. The substitute bill also seeks to limit campaign contributions to only P1million for natural persons, and P10million for juridical entities. It also seeks to prevent party members to switch parties
sixty days prior to election day.

The bill however also seeks to create a state subsidy for political parties. The bill proposes that 35% of the amount be allocated among the political parties in the Senate, and 65% among those in the House of Representatives, to be based on the number of seats won by each party in the last election. The remaining 5% shall be given to the Comelec to add to their funds for information dissemination campaign and voters education.

Another bill, HB No. 159 filed by Rep. Arthur Yap, seeks to limit campaign contributions to P5million for both natural and juridical persons.

In a hearing conducted by the House Committee on Suffrage on May 10, resource persons from civil society and other congressmen were invited to comment and propose changes to the bills. Some of the proposed amendments by the resource persons were:

	To bring down further the allowable amount of campaign contributions because the amounts mentioned will still encourage overspending; a suggested amount was P100,000 for natural persons and P1million for juridical entities. It was also suggested that the bill be clear on whether the limits set are the allowable contributions per party, or the total amount for one or more parties.
	To indicate specific period (say in the next two terms) wherein the six-month window to change parties will be allowed to further discourage turncoatism.
	That issues pertaining to campaign finance be in a separate proposed bill than to incorporate it in one for political party strengthening, because there are certain campaign finance contributions that can already be implemented
	On the allocation of funds among the parties, that: a) the number of constituents should also be considered; b) that a certain percentage be allotted for qualified political parties that are still "struggling" (guidelines to be put in place) so that the state subsidy will not be used to just maintain the dominance of political parties already in power
	To include a provision that would also limit how much a candidate could spend in a given constituency. This would entail the adjustment of the P5/voter limit stipulated in the 1987 Omnibus Election Code, to about P20/per voter when adjusted for inflation.
	To include a provision on what to do with excess funds, if any.
	That party list organizations not be included as they are governed by a separate party-list law, unless they are also registered in the Comelec as a political party like Akbayan and Bayan Muna.

The House Committee on Suffrage is accepting position papers regarding these bills up to this week, before the Committee reconvenes to deliberate and approve them by the end of this month.

Read Rep. Rodriguez's proposed bill here: http://scr.bi/jYQxrU
Read Rep. Yap's proposed bill here: http://bit.ly/lj6j4s
Listen to an audio recording of the hearing here: http://chirb.it/55qC5n

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