The Igorot Warriors International, Inc. (IWI), a party-list composed of members of cultural minorities in the country, can no longer participate in the upcoming May 2022 polls.

This is despite the Supreme Court's reversal of Comelec's ruling as it allowed the registration and participation of IWI in the May 9, 2022 elections.

"Next election n po cla makapagparticipate. Ganyan po nangyari nun sa pgbi (They can participate in the elections after this. That's what happened to PGBI)," Garcia said in a message sent to Manila Bulletin.

"PGBI", or the Philippine Guardians Brotherhood, Inc. sought to nullify Comelec's resolutions in 2009.

According to G.R. No. 190529, in these resolutions, the Comelec delisted PGBI from the roster of registered national, regional or sectoral parties, organizations or coalitions under the party-list system.

The Comelec denied IWI’s registration mainly on several technical issues like “failure to allege that it is not a religious sect, or denomination, organization or association organized for religious purposes; failure to submit proof to enable a determination that all its members were made aware of the petition and had given their consent thereto; and that the list of members submitted by IWI failed to demonstrate that the majority of the persons enumerated therein belonged to the sectors that it seeks to represent.”

When the Comelec en banc denied IWI's appeal, they opted to elevate the case to the SC. It told the SC that the “purposes for which it was organized does not, in any way, relate to any religion or religious sect, or denomination, organization, or association organized for religious purposes.”