Posts on Facebook (FB) are claiming that the Bayan Muna party-list group will be permanently disqualified by the Commission on Elections (Comelec) if it fails to secure a House seat in the May 12 midterm elections. This is false.
On Feb. 12, a reader requested VERA Files Fact Check to verify a claim made by an FB page and a user which continue to circulate this week. All the posts bore the following text:
“If Bayan Muna fails to win a seat in 2025, it will be permanently disqualified. This CPP (Communist Party of the Philippines) front has no place in Congress — let’s make sure it’s their last run! #BanBayanMuna4Ever”
This is not true, according to Comelec’s Feb. 21 response to VERA Files Fact Check.
The election body said it may only cancel or refuse the registration of any national, regional or sectoral party-list groups on grounds of failure to get at least 2% of the votes cast – the minimum needed to secure a seat in the House – for the party-list system for two preceding election years.
If Bayan Muna fails to reclaim a seat in the 20th Congress this upcoming election, the party will be delisted. But the commission clarified that it will not be permanently disqualified. “Section 2 of Comelec Resolution No. 9366 instructs that party-list groups may file anew a verified petition for registration,” it said.
Read the full story on VERA Files Fact Check.
