High court stops Comelec action vs party-lists

The Supreme Court on Friday stopped the Commission on Elections from enforcing orders that rejected the registration of three party-lists. 

In separate orders, the high court also directed the Comelec to comment on the petitions filed by the Igorot Warriors International, Ang Tinig ng Senior Citizens and Alliance for Resilience, Sustainability and Empowerment within 10 days. 

The parties earlier accused the election body of gravely abusing its discretion when it refused to recognize them. 

More than 160 party-list groups vying for 63 congressional seats next year joined a virtual raffle on Tuesday to set the order of their names on ballots. The Comelec has said it would need at least two more weeks to finalize the ballot list. — Jaspearl Emerald G. Tan