Claim: Makabayan bloc party-list groups are disqualified in the 2022 polls.

Rating: FALSE

Context:

On May 6, Twitter user @Kikiociousness (2022) posted a photo of flyers scattered along a highway in Cagayan. The flyers claim that party-list groups belonging to the Makabayan bloc (Bayan Muna, Gabriela, ACT Teachers, Kabataan and Anakpawis) have been disqualified in the 2022 elections by the COMELEC. These groups were allegedly disqualified because of their links with terrorism. These flyers include the official campaign banner of COMELEC’s Vote SAFE Pilipinas.

The COMELEC has not disqualified any of the Makabayan bloc party-list groups. As of May 6, 2022, they are still included in the official ballot (COMELEC, 2021). The only party-list group that COMELEC has officially excluded from the ballot is Malasakit Movement (COMELEC, 2022). Gabriela and Kabataan party-list groups face petitions for disqualification in the COMELEC but these are still pending (Marquez, 2021). The Makabayan bloc faced similar disqualification cases in the 2019 elections but they were junked with finality by the first division of COMELEC for lack of merit (CNN Philippines, 2020).

Similar false claims were made in the days prior to the 2019 elections by certain social media accounts and were fact-checked by news media organizations like Agence France-Presse Philippines (2019) and Rappler (see Castro, 2019).

References:

• @Kikiocioussness. (2022, May 5). ANG LALA NG DISIMPORMASYON!!! ANG DUMI NILA LUMABAN. KASUKLAM-SUKLAM ANG PAN-REREDTAG! These black propagandists really shaking to their core, huh? [Tweet, attached image]. Twitter. https://twitter.com/Kikiocioussness/status/1522233213283758081
• Agence France-Presse Philippines. (2019, May 13). No, the Philippine election body has not said it has disqualified five political parties from the polls. AFP Factcheck. https://factcheck.afp.com/no-philippine-election-body-has-not-said-it-has-disqualified-five-political-parties-polls
• Castro, G.M. (2019, May 13). FALSE: Comelec disqualifies 5 progressive party-list groups before election day. Rappler. https://www.rappler.com/newsbreak/fact-check/230269-comelec-disqualifies-party-lists-before-election-day-may-13-2019/
• COMELEC. (2021, December 29). Final listing of party-list candidates. https://comelec.gov.ph/?r=2022NLE/ListsofCandidates/FinalListingPartyList
• COMELEC. (2022, January 11). Vacation of the no. 96 slot in the listing of party-list candidates. https://comelec.gov.ph/?r=2022NLE/ListsofCandidates/VacationofListingPartyList
• CNN Philippines. (2020, February 25). Comelec division junks disqualification bid vs. Makabayan bloc, Colmenares. https://www.cnnphilippines.com/news/2020/2/25/comelec-junks-disqualification-vs-makabayan-colmenares.html
• Marquez, C. (2021, November 1). Gabriela, Kabataan party-list disqualification sought; Makabayan cries harassment. GMA News Online. https://www.gmanetwork.com/news/topstories/nation/809232/group-seeks-gabriela-kabataan-party-list-disqualification-makabayan-bloc-decries-harassment/story/