The government-backed disqualification cases against Kabataan Party-list and Gabriela Women’s Party are all but a desperate ploy to hinder legitimate organizations from giving an alternative pro-people agenda this coming elections, a youth leader said.

Kabataan and Gabriela Party-lists are both at the receiving end of the government’s move to bar them from joining next year’s elections. In the case of the youth party-list, the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC) accused it of supposedly “destabilizing the government”—a claim that has long been debunked by the government itself.

“Sinasabi [ng estado] na hindi naman daw sila against sa activism … Pero sino ba yung kanilang inaatake?” Kabataan Partylist President and first nominee Raoul Manuel said. “Bina-brand nila pati mga sibilyan at mga legitimate na progresibong organisasyon, kagaya ng Kabataan, na affiliated sa mga rebeldeng grupo.”

The government’s tactic is not new. In 2019, NTF-ELCAC also filed a disqualification case, which remains pending, against Gabriela Party-list. The complaint alleged that the party “accepted foreign funding and advocated violence,” a violation under the Party-List System Act.

As elections draw near, it is not surprising that the administration has been intensifying its attacks against the opposition, Gabriela Party-list Spokesperson Cha Castaño said, noting that the disqualification cases are an indication of the state’s abuse of the legal processes to harass dissenters.

‘Unsubstantiated’ Allegations

For Manuel, the disqualification raps stand on shaky ground as the NTF-ELCAC has no credible proof to support the anti-communist agency’s claims other than “fabricated” evidence and dubious “rebel surrenderees.”

In fact, both the Department of Justice and the Supreme Court said  last year that there are no links between progressive youth groups and the communist insurgency. The decision came after the Justice Department and the high court junked the kidnapping and war crimes charges against mass organizations filed by Relissa Lucena, mother of youth activist Alicia and a member of the NTF-ELCAC-backed League of Parents of the Philippines.

Manuel pointed out that the NTF-ELCAC’s allegations have already reached the point of absurdity. In its petition, NTF-ELCAC claimed that holding educational discussions about SOGIE was Kabataan’s way to “brainwash” the youth into being “subversives.”

Castaño also repudiated the NTF-ELCAC’s claim that Gabriela Party-list is “advocating for rebellion.” “It is impossible that we are working ... to destabilize the government [since] we have already been working inside the government for more than 20 years [already],” Castaño said.

The Commission on Elections (COMELEC) has been hearing Gabriela Party-list’s disqualification for almost two years already, although it is possible that the proceedings can drag on beyond the elections, Castaño said.

Kabataan Party-list, meanwhile, filed their formal response to the NTF-ELCAC last September 20. Both Kabataan and Gabriela Party-list seek the dismissal of the disqualification cases for “utter lack of merit.”

The poll body’s Spokesperson James Jimenez said party-lists with pending disqualification cases can still join elections. But if COMELEC would rule to disqualify Kabataan and Gabriela Party-lists, they cannot be proclaimed as winners unless the Supreme Court would overrule the COMELEC’s decision.

Upholding ‘Pro-People’ Agenda

The state’s motive in filing these “baseless” cases is to distract and scare the party-lists from joining the elections, Castaño said, highlighting how these party-lists have been effective in proposing and passing laws responsive to the needs of the people.

In the 18th Congress, Kabataan and Gabriela Party-lists championed the passage of the 105-day Expanded Maternity Leave Law and Salary Standardization Law of 2019. The progressive solons have also been instrumental in calling out the administration’s “inadequate” COVID-19 response, scrutinizing the 2022 national budget, and opposing the Anti-Terror Law.

And amid the government’s crackdown, the Makabayan bloc showed a strong standing in the 2019 midterm elections, with Gabriela and Kabataan earning enough votes to win seats in the House of Representatives.

The upcoming elections will be crucial in boosting non-parliamentary efforts and sustaining the progress by the Makabayan bloc to fight for pro-people policies inside Congress, Manuel said, adding that Filipinos deserve leaders who will offer alternatives to the worsening health crisis in the country.

Just last week, the Makabayan bloc held its national convention, vowing to amplify its calls for quality education, creation of jobs and resumption of peace talks—defying the state-backed attempts to boot them out of the 2022 polls.

Nothing would stop the party-lists from reaching out and conducting discussions with the people during or even after election seasons, Manuel said. Likewise, Castaño said that Gabriela would never be fazed in campaigning for the calls of the Filipino women and other sectors of society.

“Sa kabila ng [mga atake] laban sa mga progresibong grupo, hindi ito naging hadlang sa kagustuhan ng masa na magpaorganisa,” Castaño said. “Mas nananaig yung kagustuhan nilang marehistro ang kanilang boses kaya naman tiwala kaming iboboto pa rin kami ng masa kahit pa may makinarya ang gobyerno para patahimikin kami.” ●