VET FED VS COMELEC Facts: Mechanics provided by the Constitution for the election of party list are as follows;

1.) 20% allocation- 20 % seat allocated for party list in the house of representative. 2.) 2% threshold- only partys garner of at least 2% vote shall be qualified to have a seat in the house. 3.) 3 seats limit- each qualified party shall be limited to only 3 seats. 4.) Proportional representation- a formulation for additional seats to be given to the qualified party lists based on the proportion of their vote cast. By this system voters shall vote 2 representatives, one vote for the district representative and another one for the party list. On May 11, 1998 the first party list election was held. By then based on 20% allocation, 52 seats for party-list is to be filled up. Out of 123 parties 13 parties were qualified resulted to 14 nominees because the first party APEC acquired 2 sets for having 5.5% vote. Thereafter other party-lists who were not qualified by vote filed motion for intervention seeking the relief that the filling up of 20% party list in the house is mandatory. On October 15, 1998 the COMELEC 2nd division granted the petition thereby ordering the proclamation of 38 additional party-lists just to complete the allocated 52 seats. Qualified parties objected the proclamation of 38 others. They filed separate motion for reconsideration and contended that only those parties or coalition garnering at least 2% vote are entitled to seat, and to additional seats on the House of Representatives. COMELEC en banc affirmed the 2nd division resolution thus denying the motion. Issues: 1. Is the 20% allocation for the party-list representatives mandatory or is it merely a ceiling? 2. Are the 2% threshold requirement and the three- seat limit provided in Section 11 of RA 7941 constitutional? 3. How then should the additional seats of qualified party be determined? Held: 1. The 20% allocation is only a ceiling meaning a maximum limit and not mandatory. 2. Yes. Congress was vested with the broad power to define and prescribe the mechanics of the party-list system. 3.As to the method of allocating additional seats, the first step is to rank all the participating parties according to the votes they each obtained. The percentage of their respective votes as against the total number of votes cast for the party-list system is then determined. All those that garnered at least two percent of the total votes cast have an assured or guaranteed seat in the House of Representatives. Thereafter, those garnering more than two percent of the votes shall be entitled to additional seats in proportion to their total number of votes. The formula for additional seats of other qualified parties is: no. of votes of concerned party divided by no.of votes of first party multiplied by no. of additional seats allocated to the first party. Petitions are hereby partially GRANTED. The assailed Resolutions of the Comelec are SET ASIDE and NULLIFIED. The proclamations of the fourteen (14) sitting party-list representatives - two for APEC and one each for the remaining twelve (12) qualified parties - are AFFIRMED. No pronouncement as to costs.