Senate Minority Leader Vicente "Tito" Sotto III has introduced a bill seeking to reform the Party-List System Act (Republic Act No. 7941) to better align the legal framework with the original intent of the 1987 Philippine Constitution.

Sotto argued that over the years, the interpretation of the party-list law has broadened, straying from its foundational purpose of genuinely representing marginalized and underrepresented groups. "The party-list system has also been abused and used as a vehicle to pursue advocacies that are not for the best interest of the government," he stated.

In filing Senate Bill No. 192, Sotto proposed additional criteria to justify the cancellation of party-list organizations' registration. These include failure to represent marginalized sectors, the inclusion of members or nominees not belonging to such sectors, direct or indirect involvement in activities harmful to government interests, loss of marginalized sector status, and material misrepresentation of nominees.

Sotto emphasized that these deviations have exacerbated inequality – a core issue the Constitution’s framers aimed to address. "Amid the many issues hounding government officials, it is high time to revisit the true purpose of the party-list system, whether these groups are genuinely representing the marginalized, or merely hiding behind the guise of doing so for personal or political gain," he said.

He expressed confidence that the bill, once passed into law, will restore the integrity of the party-list system and ensure it serves its intended role of empowering the voices of marginalized and underrepresented communities in society.