Despite absence of Iglesia's support: ABONO ASSURED OF TWO SOLON'S SEAT

By Mortz C. Ortigoza

 ROSALES - Regardless the Supreme Court's injunction to stop the proclamation of five party-lists, the Abono Party-list is already secured of two seats, according to its chairman. Engineer Rosendo So said despite the party’s dim chance to sneak its third nominee Lawyer Erika Catlin Dy for membership in the 16th Congress, the party-list is assured of two seats for its first and second nominees former Sixth District Representative Conrado Estrella III and Congressman Francisco Emmanuel Ortega III for a seat in the August Chamber.
 Mechanics for party list election provides that the parties that win at least percent of the total votes cast for party-lists win one seat each. In the second round, the remaining seats are distributed via the Hare quota, with remainders disregarded; however, a party may not win more than three seats. Twenty percent of the 285 seats in the House of Representatives are reserved for party lists.
 The party chairman said notwithstanding the absence of the endorsement of the powerful sect Iglesia ni Cristo(INC), the party has already captured a partial 768,000 votes of the 28,310,100 nationwide for party lists in the May 13, 2013 poll. The chairman said from the previous three elections, Abono’s hierarchy did not ask any endorsement from the INC. He said the sect endorsed ACT Teachers Party List and Butil Farmers Party List in Pangasinan and La Union, respectively. “Iglesia dito sa Pangasinan 35,000 (voters) lang sila. Pino-project nila na malaki sila hindi sila ganoon kalaki. Sa La Union their members are only 8,000 (voters) so maliit lang ang Iglesia,” he continued “hindi tayo pumupunta sa kanila and mas okay na hindi tayo humihingi ng pabor sa kanila.”
 He said in the just concluded election Abono got more than 378,000 votes in Pangasinan, 70 percent of the voters in La Union, 55,000 votes in Tarlac, 22,000 votes in Region 2, and 15,000 votes in Nueva Ecija. He explained that compared to the 2010 polls, the number of votes Abono snared in Pangasinan declined from more than 400,000 to more than 378,000. “Bumaba kasi ang number ng voters ng Party list,” So reasoned. But he said the voters for Abono in Tarlac spiked from 33,000 to 55,000 because the political machinery of the party has felt its presence in the 2nd and 3rd congressional district of the province.