With the Commission on Elections (Comelec) setting the proclamation of party-list winners on Monday, an election lawyer simplifies the computation of seat allocation.
Section 5, Article VI of the 1987 Constitution provides that “the party-list representatives shall constitute twenty per centum of the total number of representatives including those under the party list.”
In an interview with Manila Standard, lawyer Robert Labe Jr. said the percentage allocation has been settled by the Supreme Court (SC) in the case of Banat vs. Comelec in relation to Republic Act (RA) No. 7941 or the ‘Party-List System Law.’
This was further confirmed by the High Tribunal in the case of Angkla vs. Comelec in 2021.
He explained that the number of district representatives shall be divided by 80% and will be multiplied by 20% to get the total number of party-list seats.
The election returns are received by the Comelec, tallies all votes casted for partylist groups nationwide and ranks them according to the number of votes received, he added.
In the 2025 midterm election results, there are six party-lists that reached the 2% threshold such that they will be given automatically with a guaranteed (1) seat which includes:
- Akbayan Citizens’ Action Party
- Duterte Youth
- Tingog Sinirangan (TINGOG)
- Pagtibayin at Palaguin ang Pangkabuhayang Pilipino (4Ps)
- Anti-Crime and Terrorism-Community Involvement and Support, Inc. (ACT-CIS)
- Ako Bicol Political Party
Labe noted that the partylist group that gets at least 2% of the total votes is automatically guaranteed one seat, which shall be the first round of distribution.
“After the guaranteed seats are assigned, the remaining seats will be distributed among all parties including those with less than 2% of the votes based on their share in the total votes until all remaining numbers of seats allocated for partylist will be filled. The party-lists that received at least 2% votes shall also be the priority to be given additional seats,” he said.
It must also be noted that only the whole number integer is counted, fractions are disregarded.
Earlier, the Comelec announced there are 63 seats designated for party-list representatives representing 20 percent of the total membership of the House of Representatives.
This explains why the Gabriela Women’s Party has submitted a letter requesting the poll body for an investigation for alleged discrepancy in vote after securing only 0.61% of the total party-list votes, according to Labe.
He emphasized that there are only 57 remaining seats available for the second round of allocation while noting that the three-seat limit prescribed by law also applies.
In total, Akbayan, Duterte Youth, TINGOG shall have three seats each while 4Ps, ACT-CIS, and Ako Bicol shall have two seats, and the remaining seats shall be given to other winning party-list organizations.
Labe estimates that the top 54 party-lists will be seated in the lower house with the Philippine Rural Electric Cooperatives Association, Inc. (Philreca) having the last allocation, and Gabriela failing to secure a spot.
