20 years of activism in Congress

If in the year 2000 you told me that Bayan Muna would top the 2001 partylist elections and get re-elected at least six consecutive times in Congress, I would not have believed you.

- TONYO CRUZ

Bayan Muna just was not supposed to succeed. It is a progressive leftwing party, whose first nominees were the likes of Satur Ocampo, Crispin Beltran and Liza Maza. We campaigned really hard in 2001, hoping against hope that Bayan Muna would get a decent number of votes and perhaps at least one seat.

But in that election of 2001, Bayan Muna surprised the nation and itself with a convincing and huge victory as topnotcher in the partylist race. After all the votes were counted, Bayan Muna tallied 1,708,253 votes or 26.19 percent of all partylist votes. More than one in every four partylist voters cast their ballots for Bayan Muna. If there was no three-seat limit, Bayan Muna would have been entitled to 13 seats based on the original formula of two percent per seat. No other partylist has achieved such vote share in the partylist race.

The entry to Congress of Bayan Muna Representatives Satur Ocampo, Crispin Beltran and Liza Maza brought a certain level of excitement to Congress, long dominated by traditional politicians and political dynasties. Finally, ordinary people had champions who they could call their very own.