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 “clean 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 III’s appointment of Brillantes. “Tanggap ko ang desisyon ng Pangulo sa kung sino ang mas nararapat na Comelec chairman (I respect the President’s 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. “Sinasabi ng ating chairman, ang gusto niya, the will of the people ang masunod, i-reform ang Comelec. ‘Yun 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 Aquino’s 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. “Experiment in good governance" Political analyst Ramon Casiple, executive director of the Institute for Political and Electoral Reform (IPER), said Brillantes is an “experiment in good governance," as he called on the public to support the new poll body chairman. “President 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 Brillantes’s appointment is “a little controversial" as he is also the lawyer of some candidates. “This 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. “The 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 “too early" to judge Brillantes, as he cited the election lawyer’s qualifications, qualities, and pledge to “do good". ‘Real reforms’ For its part, National Citizens’ Movement for Free Elections (Namfrel) secretary general Eric Alvia challenged Brillantes to institute “real reforms" in the Comelec. “We 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 — like technical glitches and the non-disclosure of certain documents such as the source code for the counting machines — that Brillantes has to address. He said Brillantes will also have to dispel the “perceived manipulation [of election results by] certain Comelec officials" allegedly in cahoots with operators. “If 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 “terrible" developments happen. “[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 Brillantes’ wide experience as election lawyer is an “advantage" for him to implement needed reforms in Comelec, especially as it gave him “good 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 country’s automated elections. De Villa said the Comelec should continue to work on the automated election “so 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 commission’s information technology department should be given “tools to be able to function well." - KBK, GMANews.TV