Brillantes won't budge following group's call for his resignation

If he were to resign as Chairman of the Commission on Elections, it would not be because a group called for him to do so, Sixto Brillantes Jr. said Tuesday. Poll watch group Automated Elections System (AES) Watch had called for Brillantes' resignation following his alleged threats to sue AES on charges of "election sabotage." "If they can prove it then probably I'll think about resigning. But it [will not be] because of them, but because there was something wrong," Brillantes said. He was referring to the AES' claims that the 2013 elections were a "political and technological disaster" worse than the 2010 polls. Brillantes also denied that he threatened to sue AES. In a statement, AES said Brillantes' alleged threats "send a chilling effect not only on AES Watch members but other election watch groups, political parties, candidates, and other stakeholders,” the group said. "If he adheres to the democratic principles of transparency and accountability, Chairman Brillantes should stop threatening and go through due process made available by the Constitution and the laws of the land to respond to the issues raised by legitimate citizens’ groups,” AES spokesperson Nelson Celis said. Brillantes had threatened to resign when the high court shot down the Comelec's campaign airtime limit. He also said he would resign if the top six proclaimed senator-elects fell out of the top 12. — BM, GMA News