Closing Comelec’s credibility gap ‘hopeless’ – spokesman

“We feel like Tantalus". Commission on Elections (Comelec) spokesman James Jimenez likened the poll body’s situation to this character in Greek mythology whom he said always “misses the fruit every time he reaches for it because the branches of the tree always raise his supposed meal from his grasp." While Jimenez claims that Comelec’s integrity remains intact, he admitted that the poll body may never be able to rise from the rut when it comes to its credibility, especially after the “alleged" fraud-marred 2004 elections. “Comelec’s integrity is intact. People there are honest and are doing their job. Of course there are a few bad seeds we are trying to purge. Unfortunately, I have very little hope that the credibility gap will be closed," Jimenez said in an interview with GMANews.TV on Tuesday. He, however, dismissed perceptions that the Comelec’s credibility is in a virtual “perpetual crisis" primarily because of the “Hello Garci scandal" that involved President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo who allegedly rigged the 2004 national elections in her favor through then Comelec commissioner Virgilio Garcillano. Jimenez said that the poll body, while “trying very hard to close the credibility gap," would probably not solve its problem because of its detractors – which in Tantalus story are the branches of the tree that keep away the fruit from this tragic hero. “Every single day, personalities at the top of Comelec shepherd us in closing the gap. But also every day, every time they do the shepherding, someone will bring up Garci again and other damaging, though sometimes baseless accusations. So every time we reach for the fruit of credibility, it goes away, because they take it away from us," he said. The Comelec spokesman gave an example on how the “fruit" was taken away from the poll body: “In 2004, ABS-CBN, Veritas, the Social Weather Stations and Ibon conducted post-election surveys. All if not most of the results of these surveys showed that they matched Comelec results. Namfrel also verified the said results. But did we hear any mention of that through the media? ," he said. He said Comelec’s “lifeline" changes “depending on who benefits from" the poll body. “Those who benefit stay quiet, those who don’t stay noisy." - GMANews.TV