MANILA – The Commission on Elections (Comelec) yesterday disqualified Black and White Movement (BWM) from joining the May 2013 polls because it is an advocacy group.

Comelec Commissioner Rene Sarmiento said the en banc ruling affirmed the poll body's first division ruling on BWM's accreditation last November 7.

Those who voted for the disapproval of BWM's accreditation were Comelec chairman Sixto Brillantes Jr. and Commissioners Elias Yusoph, Armando Velasco, Lucenito Tagle and Sarmiento.

Commissioners Christian Robert Lim and Grace Padaca abstained from the voting.

Sarmiento, who heads the poll body's first division, said BWM has no track record in uplifting the lives of the marginalized.

Its members, he added, also do not belong to the marginalized sector.

Election watchdog Kontra Daya earlier urged the Comelec to disqualify BWM whose nominee for the 2013 elections is singer Leah Navarro, a member of the Movie and Television Review and Classification Board (MTRCB).*PNA