With more than 60,000 members in Facebook fan page in just a year, the first and only youth party-list, Kabataan, in the Philippines, which participated in the 2010 elections, topped the online campaign among all party-lists.
The group started its online fan page only in September 2009, after Raymond Palatino, its representative, applied for one seat in the House of Representatives upon the implementation of the Carpio formula in the Philippine Party list system.
A party-list entry is entitled to at least one seat in Congress if the votes it garners is equal to two percent of the total party-list votes. The two percent of the 28 million party-list votes in this election was 600,000.
Based on the new Supreme Court ruling on April 21, 2009, 20% of the members of the House of Representatives should come from the party-list voting system. There shall be 55 seats allotted for party-list representatives as there are a total of 220 district congressmen.
With partial votes of 417,000 as of May 21, Kabataan is already sure of one representative. So far, in the partial unofficial vote turn-out, the total number of party-lists representatives who already have sure seats has not reached 55 yet. Thus, following the Carpio formula, party-lists next in line will be given one seat each. Kabataan will have one seat since it is 18th in the ranking.
Connect via Internet
Facebook, Twitter and its own website really helped in the electoral campaign of the youth party-list, Kabataan, Davao City spokesperson Ronnie Clarion told Edge Davao.
Connecting the youth using their common interest—the internet—has been proven to be effective in uniting them, not only in fun and entertainment, but also in their political aspirations, he added.
The fan page became the group’s means to gather reports and issues of students, young professionals, and out-of-school youth in the most convenient and fastest way. Also, its website has been maximized to present its platforms and statements regarding current issues.
Clarion said that during the campaign period, each member of the fan page was asked to pledge 152 voters for Kabataan, popularizing its number on the ballot –152.
More Members
Having more than 100,000 members through the chapters in the communities and majority of the schools in the country, the group expected to increase its membership not only via online, but also through local chapter building now that it is sure to have one seat in the House of Representatives, Clarion said.
“More youths will be informed of their rights to education, decent jobs, just compensation and the like with the help of online sites like Facebook and Twitter,” he said. Through Palatino, the party-list will prioritize bills to abolish the “No permit, No exam” policy and to stop tuition fee hikes.
By posting status messages, events or shout-outs on Facebook fan page, website and Twitter their latest and up-coming activities, Kabataan gained logistic support and/or participation from its members. Activities like concerts-for-a- cause, relief and medical missions, fun runs and other creative forms of protest were successfully initiated by the group with the help of online invitations.
Last May 18, the youth party-list gathered at the regional office of the Commission on Higher Education (CHED), urging the commission to stop the implementation of tuition increases in colleges and universities in Davao City. Ten schools recently increased their tuition up to 12% in accordance with CHED Memo No. 13. [Lorie Ann A. Cascaro]
