Veteran’s Federation v. COMELEC (Main Points)

These are the main points for the Veteran's Federation v. COMELEC

1. The Art. VI, Sec. 5 of the Philippine Constitution provides that the party-list representatives shall constitute twenty per centum of the total number of representatives including those under the party-list. Furthermore, the Court ruled in this case that Art. VI, Sec. 5 paragraph 2 is not mandatory but it merely provides a ceiling for party-list seats in Congress.

2. The statutory provision on this two percent requirement is precise and crystalline. When the law is clear, the function of courts is simple application, not interpretation or circumvention. 

3. Congress set the seat-limit to three (3) for each qualified party, organization or coalition. "Qualified" means having hurdled the two percent vote threshold. Such three-seat limit ensures the entry of various interest-representations into the legislature; thus, no single group, no matter how large its membership, would dominate the party-list seats, if not the entire House.

4. Parameters of the Filipino Party-List system :

First, the twenty percent allocation - the combined number of all party-list congressmen shall not exceed twenty percent of the total membership of the House of Representatives, including those elected under the party list.

Second, the two percent threshold - only those parties garnering a minimum of two percent of the total valid votes cast for the party-list system are "qualified" to have a seat in the House of Representatives;

Third, the three-seat limit - each qualified party, regardless of the number of votes it actually obtained, is entitled to a maximum of three seats; that is, one "qualifying" and two additional seats.

Fourth, proportional representation - the additional seats which a qualified party is entitled to shall be computed "in proportion to their total number of votes."

NOTE: Some parameters may have changed or removed by the Supreme Court on other cases. I'll post the cases when I have the time.