Viral personality Deo “Diwata” Balbuena, who rose to internet fame for his food business Diwata Pares, filed his bid for a congressional seat as fourth nominee of the Vendors Party-list last Wednesday, October 2, for the May 2025 elections to advocate for vendors’ welfare.
Some online users were disappointed by Diwata’s nomination because they believe he has no significant political experience. Others wondered if his low ranking among the nominees was intentional.
Some also spotted ulterior implications for Diwata’s ranking as fourth nominee, which they claimed was deliberate in the interest of “trapos,” a term often used to describe corrupt politicians.
They believe that Diwata, a non-politician, was nominated merely to make use of his online popularity, thereby possibly boosting the chances of his superior running mates to win the electoral race.
“Dapat magkaroon ng kinatawan ang mga manininda sa Kamara. Ang problema? 4TH NOMINEE si Diwata. Kahit landslide, malamang ay hindi siya magiging kinatawan,” an X user wrote.
“Ginagamit lang si Diwata, walang umaabot sa 4th bwakbwakbwak,” another shared.
Under Section 11 of Republic Act No. 7491 or Party-list System Act, “each party, organization or coalition shall be entitled to not more than three seats.”
This means that each eligible party-list group is only allowed a maximum of three seats regardless of the actual number of votes it gets.
A “substitutes nominee,” an individual named fourth nominee or lower, is only entitled to appear higher on the list of candidates when a leading aspirant dies, withdraws his or her candidacy in writing or becomes incapacitated as stated in Section 8 of the law.
“Sinasamantala ng mga trapo ang mga batayang sektor—kasama na si Diwata bilang manininda—para sa kanilang interes,” an online user shared.
‘List pusher’
In other countries, the alleged campaign strategy is called a “list pusher” wherein a famous personality without a background in politics is put at the end of a party-list not to be elected but mainly to attract more votes for the party, an online user cited.
“This is common in electoral systems that use party-list proportional representation… A non-issue compared to dynastic politics,” the netizen continued.
The first nominee for the Vendors’ Party-list is Marilou Lipana. She is followed by ex-Batangas councilor Florencio Pesigan and Sheryl Sandil—the former had been arrested for illegal possession of firearms in 2018 and found guilty of conduct unbecoming of a public officer in 2017.
Meanwhile, the COC filing for the 2025 elections will run until October 8.
