House Speaker Prospero Nograles said on Saturday that Bayan Muna's plan to file disqualification petitions before the Commission on Elections (Comelec) against newly-proclaimed, party-list representative Jovito Palparan has no legal basis.

"This news about any move to disqualify General Palparan et al may not have any legal basis at the moment," Nograles said in a text message to reporters on Saturday. "They all have been proclaimed by the Comelec, and I will administer their oaths and include their names in the roster of the House."

Nograles said that only the House of Representatives can "let go" of Palparan as member once he is proclaimed by the Comelec.

"Once proclaimed, only and only the House has exclusive jurisdiction to remove any member of the chamber," he said.

Nograles added in the statement that Bayan Muna Rep. Satur Ocampo and other "militant" congressmen should be reminded that the House leadership does not easily remove its members.

"The leadership refused to let him (Ocampo) go despite all charges filed against him including warrants of arrests. We housed them in. Remember?" the speaker said.

Ocampo on Wednesday said in a press conference that Bayan Muna and other members of the House minority will try to block Palparan's proclamation by asking the Comelec to disqualify the former military general's party-list group, Bantay.

Ocampo and other activist groups gave Palparan the nickname "Butcher" for allegedly ordering the killing of several activists while in active military service.

A 2006 government commission investigating extrajudicial killings of journalists, leftist activists, and outspoken clergy has implicated members of the military and identified Palparan in its report as the "prime suspect behind the extrajudicial killings" in the Philippines.

"There is certainly evidence pointing the finger of suspicion at some elements and personalities in the armed forces, in particular General Palparan, as responsible for an undetermined number of killings, by allowing, tolerating, and even encouraging the killings," the Melo Commission said in its report.

The commission was headed by now Comelec Chairman Jose Melo, who led the proclamation of Palparan and 28 other new party-list representatives on Friday.

The proclamation followed the Supreme Court's ruling last Tuesday increasing the number of party-list seats in the House.