Only 8 party-lists seen securing at least 1 seat in latest SWS survey

MANILA, Philippines — If elections were to be held this month, only eight party-list groups would be assured of at least one seat in the House of Representatives, the Social Weather Stations (SWS) said on Friday.

Only eight of the 156 party-list groups received more than two percent of the votes among respondents to the SWS survey conducted from Dec. 12 to 18, commissioned by political think tank Stratbase.

Under the party-list law, groups that get at least two percent of votes are guaranteed one seat.

The Pagtibayin at Palaguin ang Pangkabuhayang Pilipino (4Ps) party-list topped the survey after getting 13.51 percent of the votes among respondents.

This means the 4Ps party-list would be entitled to three seats if the elections were held this month.

The 4Ps party-list, which currently occupies two seats in the 19th Congress, also got the coveted first spot on the party-list ballot through the Commission on Elections’ raffle.

Furthermore, ACT-CIS ranked second with 5.63 percent, Senior Citizens ranked third with 4.62 percent, and Duterte Youth placed fourth with 4.14 percent.

These three party-list groups would be poised to secure two seats each if elections were held this month.

Also, party-list groups Ako Bicol (3.56%), Tingog (2.86%), TGP (2.48%), and Uswag Ilonggo (2.20%), would secure a seat if elections were held this month.

Party-list representatives shall constitute 20 percent of the total number of the members of the House of Representatives.

The remaining unoccupied seats would be allocated to other party-list groups according to their ranking, and each group would only have one representative.

The SWS face-to-face poll had 2,097 registered voters as respondents nationwide. The sampling error margins were ±2.1% for national percentages, ±5.3% for Metro Manila, ±3.0% for Balance Luzon, and ±5.2% each for the Visayas and Mindanao.