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Coseteng vs. Mitra, Jr.(proportional representation)

Facts:

The congressional elections of May 1987 resulted in the

election to the House of Rep. of the candidates of diversepolitical parties such as PP!"a#an$ "a%as ng &ansa ("&)$"i#eral Party ("P)$ 'P!nido$ ilusan ng &agong "ipunan

(&")$ a#a#aihan Para sa *nang &ayan (+*&+)$ etc.Petitioner +nna o,ini-ue oseteng /as the only candidate

elected under the #anner of +*&+.

+ugust 0$ 1987 2 the House of Rep. upon no,ination #y theMa3ority floor leader 4rancisco 5u,ulong$ elected fro, the

oalesced ,a3ority 11 out of 10 congress,en to represent theHouse in the o,,ission on +ppoint,ents.

5epte,#er 00$ 1987 2 upon no,ination of the Minority floorleader$ the House elected Honora#le +#lan 6r.$ as the 10 th

,e,#er of the o,,ission on +ppoint,ents$ representing the

oalesced ,inority in the House.5epte,#er 1$ 1988 2 "a#an ng e,o%rati%ong Pilipino

("P) /as organied as a political party. 18 out of 00,e,#ers of the House for,ally affiliated /ith the "P.

onse-uently$ the House representation in o,,ission on

+ppoint,ents had to #e reorganied.:cto#er 8$ 1988 2 oseteng /rote a letter to 5pea%er Mitra

re-uesting that as representative of +*&+$ she #e appointedas a ,e,#er of the o,,ission on +ppoint,ents and House

;lectoral Tri#unal.

ece,#er $ 1988 2 House ,e,#ership in the o,,ission on+ppoint,ents /as revised. oseteng /as still not included.

4e#ruary 1$ 1989 2 oseteng and her party filed a petition todeclare null and void the election of ,e,#ers of the

o,,ission on +ppoint,ents on the theory that their election

to that o,,ission violated the constitutional ,andate ofproportional representation.

Issue:

es?

There are 1 ,e,#ers of the "P in the House. Theyrepresent 79@ of the House ,e,#ership (/Ac ,ay #e rounded

out to 8@). 8@ of 10 ,e,#ers in the o,,ission on+ppoint,ents /ould e-ual 9. ,e,#ers$ /Ac ,ay #e rounded

out to 1 ,e,#ers fro, the "P.The re,aining 0 seats /ere apportioned to the "P as the neBtlargest party in the oalesced Ma3ority and the &" as the

principal opposition party in the House.There is no dou#t that this apportion,ent of the House

,e,#ership /as done on the #asis of proportionalrepresentation of the political parties therein.

The other political parties or groups in the House$ such as

petitionerCs +*&+ (/Ac is presu,a#ly a ,e,#er also of theoalesced Ma3ority)$ are #ound #y the ,a3orityCs choices. ;ven

if +*&+ /as to #e considered as an opposition party$ its lone,e,#er Coseteng represents only .4% or less than 1% ofthe House e!ership$ hence$ she is not entitled to one of the

10 House seats in the o,,ission on +ppoint,ents.To #e a#le to clai, proportional ,e,#ership in the

o,,ission on +ppoint,ents$ a political party shouldrepresent at least 8.D@ of the House ,e,#ership or it should

have #een a#le to elect at least 17 congress,enA/o,en.