From the Manila Standard Today (Nov 19): Bayan Muna protests comparison with Akbayan group
The leftist Bayan Muna, facing a serious challenge to its party-list accreditation, protested loudly to the Commission on Elections (Comelec) for being compared to another leftist group with strong links with Malacanang, officials said on Sunday. Bayan Muna Rep. Neri Colmenares said his group represents the marginalized sectors and should not be compared to Akbayan, which is “backed and is an adjunct of the Aquino administration.” “The Comelec is warned not to grant the lobby of the military to disqualify Bayan Muna,” Colmenares said. “Bayan Muna has a long track record of exposing abuses and corruption of government officials and disqualifying it will surely play into the hands of these military lobbyists.” Bayan Muna is not partying in Malacanang, Akbayan is,” said Vencer Crisostomo of Anakbayan, a mass organization of Filipino youths. President Aquino has appointed some Akbayan leaders to Cabinet posts. A prominent Akbayan member is running for senator in next year’s mid-term elections under President Aquino’s Liberal Party. Akbayan faced disqualification cases in the Comelec, which has disqualified 18 of 50 party-list groups in the House of Representatives. Complainants said Akbayan no longer represents the marginalized because its members occupy important government posts. Crisostomo said the Comelec should not lump Bayan Muna with Akbayan and other multi-sectoral groups because the “complaint against Akbayan is not due to its being a multisectoral party but due to its being a party in power and its obvious government connections.” He said Comelec Chairman Sixto Brillantes echoed the Palace position on the issue when he said that “if Akbayan goes, so should Bayan Muna.”
http://manilastandardtoday.com/2012/11/19/bayan-muna-protests-comparison-with-akbayan-group/
Bayan Muna (People First) is the main CPP-affiliated party-list political party. Bayan Muna and other CPP fronts such as Anakbayan (Children of the Nation) party-list also mentioned in the article, have waged an intensive propaganda campaign to have Akbayan decertified as a party-list political organization. There is a long standing ideologically-driven hatred between the "rejectionist" Akabayan and those "reaffirmist" groups associated with the CPP.
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