ELECTION 'STAR' ENTERS COMELEC PICTURE / MELO STEPPING DOWN EARLY
[PHOTO AND THE POLITICS AS ALWAYS: AT LEFT VETERAN ELECTION LAWYER SIXTO BRILLANTES- Two warring factions in Aquino's political circle are pushing for either veteran election lawyers Romulo Macalintal or Sixto Brillantes Jr. for the COMELEC post. The Liberal Party-Balay Group, which is allied with losing vice presidential bet former Senator Manuel "Mar" Roxas II, is reportedly backing Macalintal. Brillantes, on the other hand, is the top pick of the Samar group, which supported the tandem of Aquino and Vice President Jejomar Binay last year. BRILLANTES also served as Aquino's legal counsel during the canvassing of votes for president and vice president last May 2010. Although Macalintal served as Aquino's election lawyer when he first ran for Congress in 1998, various groups opposed his nomination due to his close ties with former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo. The 63-year-old lawyer is known for defending the former leader in the hotly-contested 2004 presidential elections, (HELLO, SIXTO!) where Arroyo allegedly phoned a Comelec official to rig the results to her favor. "(The) possible appointment of Macalintal becomes more untenable given that there is still no closure on the issue of the 2004 election fraud, its subsequent cover up, and the wiretapping scandal that broke out in 2005," poll watchdog Kontra Daya said. Aside from Brillantes and Macalintal, the other nominees considered to replace Melo by January 31 are Truth Commission member Carlos Medina, Jr., retired Supreme Court (SC) Associate Justice Leonardo Quisumbing and retiring Associate Justice Eduardo Nachura]
[PHOTO - NOY'S CHOICE: SUPREME COURT ASSOCIATE JUSTICE EDUARDO NACHURA. Antonio Eduardo B. Nachura (born June 13, 1941) is an incumbent Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the Philippines. He had been Solicitor-General of the Philippines at the time of his appointment to the Court was announced on January 31, 2007 by President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo. Nachura took his oath of office as Associate Justice on February 7, 2007. Born in Catbalogan, Samar, Nachura is a graduate of the San Beda College of Law. He placed 7th in the 1967 bar examinations. In addition, he holds a Doctor of Public Management from the Pamantasan ng Lungsod ng Maynila. In 1998, Nachura was elected congressman in the House of Representatives, representing the 2nd District of Samar. He served in the 11th Congress and the 12th Congress. In February 2006, Nachura was named Chief Presidential Legal Counsel by President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo. The following month, Nachura was appointed Solicitor-General by on March 17, 2006, replacing Alfredo Benipayo.]
MANILA, JANUARY 15, 2011 (MALAYA) BY WENDELL VIGILIA - PRESIDENT Aquino prefers his old friend, Supreme Court Associate Justice Eduardo Nachura, to succeed outgoing Elections Chair Jose Melo but the former solicitor general and Samar congressman has begged off in favor of lawyer Sixto Brillantes, a well-placed source in the Liberal Party said yesterday.
In the May national elections, Brillantes represented the Liberal Party in its bid to be declared the dominant minority party by the Commission on Elections.
But the President said Nachura is not even a candidate for the post that will be vacated Jan. 31 on effectivity of chairman Jose Melo's resignation.
However, the source said former Sen. Mar Roxas who dropped his bid for president to give way to Aquino, has also personally asked the President to consider Romulo Macalintal who also served as election lawyer of the family of former president and now Pampanga Rep. Gloria Arroyo.
The President said he has interviewed only Brillantes and Macalintal.
To be interviewed is lawyer Carlos Medina Jr., a member of the Truth Commission, who was recommended by the Transparency and Accountability Network (TAN) which said he is a recognized leader of the electoral reform community.
Medina is also a co-convenor of the Legal Network for Truthful Elections (Lente).
TAN also described Medina, an alumnus of the Ateneo de Manila, the London School of Economics, the University of London and the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University, as deeply involved in the automated polls in ARMM in 2008 and in the 2010 national and local polls.
The source said Roxas supposedly told Aquino that appointing Brillantes to the Comelec might endanger his future political plans because the lawyer has ties with Vice President Jejomar Binay and Sen. Francis Escudero, his perceived rivals in the 2016 presidential election.
"In a conversation, former Sen. Roxas told the President that appointing Brillantes to the post is like giving the presidency to Escudero," he said.
Escudero's endorsement of Binay's electoral bid last year was considered as one of the biggest factors that boosted his candidacy and enabled him to defeat Roxas.
Escudero and Binay are said to be allied with the "Samar" group of lawyers and volunteers who backed Aquino's presidential bid while Roxas, including now Budget Secretary Florencio "Butch" Abad, is with the "Balay" group.
The President earlier said Roxas will be appointed to his Cabinet as soon as the one-year ban on appointing defeated candidates ends on June 1.
Presidential spokesman Edwin Lacierda dismissed reports quoting Sen. Sergio Osmeña as saying the selection of the next Comelec chair is a battle between the Balay and the Samar groups.
Lacierda said there is "no faction" in the government and "nobody is pushing for anyone."
The President said while he wants someone young to head the Comelec, he believes that someone who has experience in handling election-related cases is better.
"Gusto natin diyan isa na talagang sobrang dunong sa electoral law and practice," he said. – With Jocelyn Montemayor
Melo stepping down early By Sheila Crisostomo (The Philippine Star) Updated January 16, 2011 12:00 AM Comments (0)
MANILA, Philippines – Commission on Elections (Comelec) Chairman Jose Melo quit his post yesterday, or two weeks ahead of his original schedule, to give President Aquino at least one day to find his replacement before Congress resumes session tomorrow.
"Consistent with my standing offer to advance the date of my resignation as chairman of the Commission on Elections, should it be the desire of the President to have my successor immediately assume office in an ad interim capacity, I hereby advance the effectivity of my resignation from Jan. 31, 2011 to Jan. 15, 2011," Melo said in a letter to Aquino dated Jan. 14.
Malacañang confirmed Melo's resignation with Executive Secretary Paquito Ochoa Jr. praising him for leaving behind "a distinguished record of public service, the highlight of which was the successful staging of the first fully automated national elections, widely acknowledged as the country's cleanest elections in recent history." Deputy presidential spokesperson Abigail Valte said Melo's replacement would be announced "in due time." She said the resigned poll chief did not personally speak with the President regarding the resignation.
Melo said he stepped down "confident in the knowledge that the country's first automated elections held last May 10 had led to one of the most credible and unquestionable poll results in the nation's history."
"But at the same time, I am also cognizant of the fact that the next chairman faces the challenge of sustaining the gains of the past years and instituting further reforms to safeguard the sanctity of our country's electoral process," he noted.
Melo also expressed his "deepest gratitude for having been given the opportunity to contribute my humble share in the pursuit of our avowed dream to have clean, honest and fair elections stand as the vanguard of our democracy."
Last November, the 78-year-old Melo tendered his resignation that was supposed to take effect at the end of January.
In his decision to advance his resignation, he also cited his age as well as his desire to spend more time with his grandchildren and to play golf more.
"It has been my singular honor and privilege to have served our country for the last 48 years, the last three of which have been with the Commission on Elections, where I and my colleagues in the commission dedicated ourselves to giving the nation its first nationwide automated elections," he said.
"I signed up for this job, as I had previously intimated to Your Excellency, with the sole intention of giving our people credible elections and an unchallenged president. I believe we accomplished both," he pointed out.
Melo was a retired associate justice of the Supreme Court before his appointment as Comelec chair. His replacement will continue his unfinished term until 2015.
Under the law, an appointment is called ad interim if it is made when Congress is on recess. Such an appointee can assume office even before confirmation by the Commission on Appointments (CA).
Those appointed when Congress is in session cannot start working without passing the CA confirmation first.
This means that if Melo steps down on Jan. 31 or while Congress is in session, Aquino will be able to name the next Comelec chief only by March 25 or when Congress goes on recess again.
Macalintal out
And as Melo made his abrupt exit, one of his potential replacements bared his decision to decline any offer to take the top Comelec post.
Election lawyer Romulo Macalintal said he has already written the President about his decision not to join the agency in any capacity.
"I already asked the President to exclude me from the list of candidates that he is interviewing for the position of Comelec chairman. My family wants complete privacy and we know that we won't be able to attain it if I'm in government," he told The STAR in a phone interview.
Instead, he recommended fellow election lawyer Sixto Brillantes as Melo's replacement. "Given his expertise and track record, I strongly believe that he is the best person for the position," he said.
But Macalintal, who was the election lawyer of Aquino when he first ran for congressman of Tarlac in 1998, stressed that he is still willing to work for the President.
"I'm willing to help him even as a consultant on election matters, with a salary of P1 a year," he added.
Also reportedly being eyed by the Palace as Melo's replacement aside from Macalintal and Brillantes were Justice Secretary Leila de Lima, Executive Secretary Ochoa, retired SC associate justice Leonardo Quisumbing, SC Associate Justice Antonio Eduardo Nachura, and human rights lawyer Carlos Medina Jr.
Aside from Melo, the Comelec will have two other vacancies on Feb. 2 when Commissioners Nicodemo Ferrer and Gregorio Larrazabal retire.
Meanwhile, poll watchdog Workers' Electoral Watch (WE Watch) challenged the next Comelec chief to "unlock the secrets" of the country's first automated election last May 10.
In a statement, WE Watch project manager Anna Leah Escresa-Colina said the poll body failed to make a full public disclosure of the source code used in the automated election system and of its contract with service provider Smartmatic-Total Information Management Inc.
"As a first step, the next Comelec chair must order the release of crucial election documents, including the source code, to once and for all settle lingering suspicions and questions regarding the conduct of the automated polls last year," Escresa-Colina said. with Aurea Calica
EARLIER NEWS FROM ABS-CBN
NPC urges P-Noy not to appoint Brillantes as Comelec head - by People's Tonight Monday, 10 January 2011 19:51
THE National Press Club (NPC) is urging President Benigno "P-Noy" Aquino III not to consider the nomination of veteran election lawyer Sixto Brillantes as head of the Commission on Elections (Comelec).
In an interview by ABS-CBN's Umagang Kay Ganda, NPC vice-president Marlon Purificacion said Brillantes has no place in the Comelec because as an election lawyer he has a lot of 'political clients' that will jeopardize his position.
Aside from this, Brillantes is also the lawyer of Andal Ampatuan Sr., during the 2001 elections.
"Hindi pa nga nabibigyan ng katarungan ang pagkamatay ng 57 katao na minasaker sa Maguindanao na kinasasangkutan ng pamilya Ampatuan tapos eto't bibigyan pa ng puwesto sa gobyernong Aquino ang abogadong si Brillantes," said Purificacion in the interview.
Instead of appointing Brillantes as Comelec head Purificacion said President Aquino should choose a more competent individual that has integrity and "moral ascendancy" to lead the institution.
"Nandiyan pa rin ang bangungot ng Hello Garci scandal. Dahil din sa political accommodation ay binigyang puwesto ng nakaraang administrasyon si Comelec Chairman Benjamin Abalos Sr., na nasangkot sa ZTE scandal kung saan nagmula ang "Sec, May 200 ka rito." Tapos ngayon, ia-appoint si Atty Brillantes sa Comelec. Baka bukas-makalawa, magkaroon naman tayo ng Hello Sixto," he added.
Although it was not clear yet if Brillantes will be appointed as Comelec chief to replace Comelec Chairman Jose Melo or Commissioner Rene Sarmiento and Gregorio Larrazabal next month, the NPC official is urging the public to remain vigilant.
Purificacion said multi-sectoral groups, especially the election watchdog PPCRV and Namfrel should give their clear stand against Brillantes in the Comelec post.
"Kapag binigyan ng puwesto si Brillantes sa Comelec, ang unang-unang makikinabang dito ay ang mga kliyenteng pulitiko niya at ang unang-unang makakawawa na naman dito ay ang taumbayan," said Purificacion.
He clarified that they have nothing against Brillantes but for the sake of 'integrity and credibility,' President Aquino should appoint another individual to head the Comelec.
"Wala po kaming minamanok para ipuwesto sa Comelec. Maraming magaling tayong kababayan na mas kuwalipikado at mas may integridad para pamunuan ang Comelec wag lang si Atty. Brillantes. Kung gusto talagang bigyan ng papel ni President Aquino si Brillantes, bigyan niya ng ibang puwesto, 'wag lang sa Comelec," he stressed.
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Chief News Editor: Sol Jose Vanzi
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