Party-lists join raffle for ballot order 

THE COMMISSION on Elections (Comelec) on Tuesday said it would need at least two more weeks to finalize the order of party-list groups on ballots. 

“The list of official candidates will not be released tomorrow as there are still a number of unresolved nuisance cases,” Comelec spokesman James B. Jimenez told reporters in a Viber group message on Tuesday. 

More than 160 party-list groups vying for 63 congressional seats next year joined a virtual raffle on Tuesday to set the order of their names on ballots. 

Party-list groups want their names first on the ballot so they easily get picked by voters. 

The party-list system was created under the 1987 Constitution so marginalized sectors including labor, peasant, urban poor, indigenous, cultural, women and youth can be represented at the House of Representatives. — Jaspearl Emerald G. Tan