Poll watchdogs welcome new Comelec chief
Various poll watchdogs have thrown their support for newly appointed Commission on Elections (Comelec) chairman Sixto Brillantes Jr., as they called on him to âclean up" the poll body and implement much-needed reforms. In an interview, Legal Network for Truthful Elections Inc. (Lente) co-convenor Carlos Medina Jr., who was also nominated for the top Comelec post, said he respects President Benigno Aquino IIIâs appointment of Brillantes. âTanggap ko ang desisyon ng Pangulo sa kung sino ang mas nararapat na Comelec chairman (I respect the Presidentâs choice of the next Comelec leader) based on his own assessment of the needs of the Comelec," Medina told GMANews.TV in a phone interview. Medina said the most immediate task Brillantes has to face is the preparation for special barangay elections in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM), where elections were suspended due to threats of violence. âSinasabi ng ating chairman, ang gusto niya, the will of the people ang masunod, i-reform ang Comelec. âYun din ang gusto ng Lente so nagkakaisa kami (Our chairman says he wants the will of people to prevail, and that he wants to reform the Comelec. These are also what Lente wants so we are one with him)," Medina said. Brillantes, who served as Aquinoâs legal counsel in the last presidential elections, took his oath of office on Sunday. He replaced Jose Melo, who sought early retirement. Melo was supposed to retire in 2015. Brillantes, 71, a veteran election lawyer who placed 7th in the 1965 bar examinations, will serve the unexpired term of Melo. He served as, among others, the lead lawyer of deposed President Joseph Estrada, the legal counsel of the Eduardo Cojuangco Jr. Group of Companies, the general counsel of the political party Nationalist People's Coalition, and a legal consultant of the United Opposition, which was created by Vice President Jejomar Binay to unite all politicians against then-President and now Pampanga Rep. Gloria Macapagal Arroyo. âExperiment in good governance" Political analyst Ramon Casiple, executive director of the Institute for Political and Electoral Reform (IPER), said Brillantes is an âexperiment in good governance," as he called on the public to support the new poll body chairman. âPresident Aquino broke away from the tradition of appointing either a politician with patently partisan agenda or a judiciary person who does not have an electoral background," Casiple said on his blog. Casiple, however, said Brillantesâs appointment is âa little controversial" as he is also the lawyer of some candidates. âThis is a double-edged sword that can be construed as either positive or negative in terms of credible, fair and free elections. His expertise in both the legal and practical electoral process makes him an ideal reform champion, if he chooses to go this route," Casiple said. âThe same factor, say the critics, makes him an ideal election operator (with all the bad connotations), if he so chooses," he added. But Casiple maintained it is still âtoo early" to judge Brillantes, as he cited the election lawyerâs qualifications, qualities, and pledge to âdo good". âReal reformsâ For its part, National Citizensâ Movement for Free Elections (Namfrel) secretary general Eric Alvia challenged Brillantes to institute âreal reforms" in the Comelec. âWe hope that the new chair will implement real reforms, especially [those] related to the management and competency of the Comelec," Alvia said in a phone interview. Alvia cited issues in the 2010 automated elections â like technical glitches and the non-disclosure of certain documents such as the source code for the counting machines â that Brillantes has to address. He said Brillantes will also have to dispel the âperceived manipulation [of election results by] certain Comelec officials" allegedly in cahoots with operators. âIf he does his work well and if he is sincere in his promises, he will definitely get our support," Alvia said. Support from PPCRV Church-backed Parish Pastoral Council for Responsible Voting (PPCRV) assured Brillantes of its full cooperation, saying it will continue working with him unless âterrible" developments happen. â[If] the man is good we always give the benefit of the doubt. We always work with what we have," said PPCRV chairwoman Henrietta de Villa in an article posted on the Catholic Bishops' Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) news site. She said Brillantesâ wide experience as election lawyer is an âadvantage" for him to implement needed reforms in Comelec, especially as it gave him âgood knowledge" of other Comelec officials. The PPCRV said this even as it had earlier recommended Medina and lawyer Antonio Pastelero to replace Melo. The group also recommended Ma. Caridad Manarang, Baltazar Endriga and Dr. Edna Estifania Co as prospective replacements for retiring Commissioners Nicodemo Ferrer and Gregorio Larrazabal. The PPCRV asked Brillantes to put reforms on top of his agenda, including the improvement of the countryâs automated elections. De Villa said the Comelec should continue to work on the automated election âso that we could see the glitches that happened before although it was carried out well for the first time nationwide." She added other people must also be involved in the conduct of the elections, and that the commissionâs information technology department should be given âtools to be able to function well." - KBK, GMANews.TV