The Commission on Elections (Comelec) will allocate one additional party-list seat in the House of Representatives (HOR), increasing the total to 64 in the 20th Congress.
Comelec Chairperson George Garcia announced on Wednesday that the Commission en banc has approved his recommendation to add another seat to the 63 allocated during the May 2025 polls.
“(The) Comelec en banc approved it, but we, the HOR must be consulted,” Garcia said. “The HOR said this is absolute discretion of Comelec… the en banc was able to determine that instead of 63 seats, it should be 64 seats.”
Garcia explained that the 1987 Constitution mandates that 20 percent of the House’s composition must come from party-list representatives.
The Comelec has asked its Law Department and Supervisory Committee to recommend which group should be proclaimed as the 64th seat holder.
“We sought their opinion on which group should benefit in the 64th seat and be proclaimed as such,” Garcia said.
Additionally, the Comelec is awaiting guidance on the possible cancellation of the Duterte Youth party-list registration, following the en banc’s 5-1-1 vote affirming its Second Division’s earlier ruling to revoke the group’s accreditation.
Several youth organizations, including Gabriela Youth, Anakbayan, and Kabataan Tayo ang Pag-asa, have petitioned for Duterte Youth’s disqualification from the 2025 midterm elections, citing “misrepresentation” of the youth sector.
