As we all know, former Mayor Bitong Bigote, from a far forsaken land migrated to the adjacent far forsaken land to run for Mayor therein but later on he withdrew his Certificate of Candidacy (CoC) and was substituted by his son, Bitong Binatillo. To many, the former Mayor would be better off by being content as a private citizen, while the younger Bitong would continue the former’s calling and ‘purpose’ in life.

In an abrupt change of events and to their astonishment, the voters in the adjacent far forsaken land came to know that former Bitong Bigote was nominated as a Party List Representative. In case votes are obtained in favor of said party list, according to him, he will be one of the Congressmen or Members of the House of Representatives representing the oppressed and marginalized sectors of this adjacent far forsaken land.

The voters were wondering how come the former Mayor Bitong Bigote is so sure that he will become a Congressman, so they chanced upon him, in one of the sleazy cafes in town where he was drinking his recycled and adulterated expresso. He revealed that he is assured of getting a seat in congress and that it is his God-given destiny to become a congressman in this place. The concerned voters asked for an explanation as to how the winning seats could be computed. The former Mayor said that they should refer to the provisions of Republic Act no. 7941 or the Party List System Act which provides that 20 percent of the total seats in the House of Representatives should be allotted to the party list. He could not elaborate and further said that the voters would not understand anyway. Arrogantly, and sort of belittling them, he said that there is a formula for computation but the interested persons must do their part in researching – as it is a very complicated formula and known only to highly intelligent individuals, thus, it is not commonly mentioned since it is his winning formula. So, even if he will be confronted with the plump, chatty and demeaning wife of incumbent Mayor Pepong Mahina, former Mayor Bitong Bigote will be spared of anxiety and sleepless nights for he already has an inevitable sure-win formula to return to power (which he desperately needs).

The voters decided to proceed to the local Comelec Office, where the Election Officer, who believes that he is a supervisor and who was re assigned to this far forsaken town because of undisclosed pending cases, was seen mumbling to himself as though he was talking to somebody, but there was no one there. He acted like nothing is wrong and continued to conduct his usual business in his despicable life. Although, he graduated cum laude in college and mastered the provisions of the Holy Bible, he–as expected, did not seem to know the answer. So, he ran away with the hope that the people will just address their query somewhere else. Confused, the voters were left without answers.

Why do we have party list representatives? How do we compute for the seat allocation? How come they are not elected in the same way as a congressman in a district? Why do we need party list representatives? Is it true that the party list formula is one that must not be commonly mentioned because it is complicated? Find out on Election Day at 9:00 o’clock in the morning on November 19, 2021 at Regional News Group Luzon’s Morning Balitaktakan.

***Comments/opinions mentioned in this article are made by me in my personal capacity as a lawyer and not as an employee of the Comelec.