JANUARY 25, 2026 — Seventy percent. That’s how many party-list seats in Congress are now controlled by contractors, according to Senate President Vicente Sotto III. And if that doesn’t sound like a scam factory, what does?

The party-list system was supposed to be the lifeline of the poor — farmers, fisherfolk, women, indigenous peoples, senior citizens, the urban poor. Sotto reminded the public that he co-sponsored the original bill with the late Raul Roco, designed to give the marginalized a fighting chance. But instead of amplifying the voices of the powerless, the system has been hijacked by the powerful.

The turning point? A Supreme Court ruling that party-list representatives need not come from marginalized sectors. That decision opened the door for big business groups and multimillionaires to march right in. And worse, many of them were government contractors — the same people who profit from public funds.

Sotto cited Zaldy Co, the so-called “cong-tractor,” once Ako Bicol representative and House appropriations committee chair, now facing corruption charges tied to the flood control scandal. 

“70% ng nakaupong partylist puro kontratista. Natutuwa ba mga kababayan natin?” he said. 

(70% of seated party-list representatives are contractors. Are our countrymen happy about this?)

The irony is painful. A system meant to empower the poor has become a backdoor for the rich. And while billions are poured into flood control projects, scandals erupt, exposing how contractors milk the system dry. How can ordinary Filipinos trust that their taxes are being used for genuine development when the very watchdogs of Congress are the ones feeding at the trough?

President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has included party-list reform in his priority legislation. 

Sotto welcomed the move, saying, “Sumasang-ayon siya sa amin na inabuso ang party-list … Maganda ayusin na itong party-list system na ito.” 

(He agrees with us that the party-list has been abused … It would be good to fix this system.)

Will reform actually happen, or will this be another promise drowned in politics? We’ve seen this before, countless times — strong words that are oh-so-good to hear but reduced to being practically worthless because no action follows them. 

The party-list was built to serve the poor, but it has morphed into the richest scam in Philippine politics.

(Image: Senate of the Philippines | Facebook)