Comelec rejects CBCP call for overhaul, demands a summit

(Updated 9:41 a.m.) Still sore at the "unfair" treatment it supposedly got, the Commission on Elections (Comelec) called for a summit with the Catholic church and other sectors to patch up all the holes in the country's voting process. While bemoaning the "degeneration" of Filipinos' "moral values," Comelec Chair Benjamin Abalos refused to heed the call of the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) to quit his post. "That is cowardice if you ask me. We have a challenge, we have a mandate to do. And we will continue to do it. My plan is to call for some sort of a summit or conference wherein all of the stakeholders are there," Abalos said in an interview on dzBB radio. Describing himself as a "Catholic," the poll body chair said members of the clergy were welcome to attend despite the CBCP's call Monday to replace Comelec officials with people with "unquestioned integrity and competence." "The commission is planning the summit to address all these ills in our elections. Let's talk about it to get to the bottom of things. Where did the problems come from?" Abalos said. He added in Filipino that, "Why is there violence in Mindanao? Because there are some people who cannot believe that candidates can get zero votes." Abalos did not elaborate. Aside from calling for a "full revamp" of the Comelec, the 85-bishop CBCP scored the "continuing dominance" of political dynasties, vote-padding and vote-shaving, as well as violent incidents that accompany the polls. For his part, CBCP spokesman Msgr. Pedro Quitorio III said the bishops based their statement on evidence presented by Church-backed poll watchdog groups. Quitorio said these included the Parish Pastoral Council for Responsible Voting (PPCRV) and the Legal Network for Truthful Elections (Lente). "They want evidence? We can provide them with evidence," he said in Filipino during a separate interview. However, he said the CBCP doubts the Comelec will act on the evidence, saying its track record had shown it would resort to technicalities. "If you give them evidence, they cite so many technicalities. And whatever happens, at the end of the day, nothing happens," he said. Soul searching Quitorio added what the CBCP is looking for from the Comelec in its statement is a sense of delicadeza, or morality. "What we ask is delicadeza, a sense of morality, if they have any of it left. Other than that, there's nothing much we can do. We just challenge and appeal to them because all of our problems and corruption stem from this electoral fraud," he said. Abalos, however, said it would be unfair to pin the blame on the Comelec for all of the problems during the elections. "Don't you think this is now the moral degeneration of our people?" Abalos said, adding in Filipino that, "You mean to tell me just because somebody bought or sold his or her vote that's the Comelec's fault? I hope not." Off to work Meanwhile, Comelec spokesman James Jimenez branded the CBCP's judgment of the poll body's performance as "unfair." Interviewed on dzXL radio, Jimenez said that should the bishops refuse to sit down with them for a dialogue, then it will just be "business as usual" for the Comelec. He said the poll body will treat the CBCP statement as "just an opinion." "Like you said, it's just the opinion of the CBCP. If it's a matter of public perception, we will talk it over with the CBCP to see if they have basis for making their claim. In the meantime, it's business as usual for us," he said. 'Isolated' case Jimenez also scored the CBCP for claiming massive fraud, saying it was just concentrated in Maguindanao, which he said is a small part of the country. "The violence happened in a small part of the country, in Maguindanao. Elections were peaceful in other areas," he said. He admitted that the Comelec was saddened over the CBCP's statement, saying it never consulted them when it drafted its statement. He also questioned the CBCP's lauding of the election but seeking the ouster of those who made the "credible" election possible. "The CBCP said the election was overall credible. But if it were credible, why are they pushing for the ouster of the administrators?" he said. "It is a wonder why the CBCP wants to remove the officials who worked to make the election credible," he added. Jimenez said the act was similar to "pandering to some sort of bias." "If the Comelec were as crooked as the CBCP said it is, the will of the people would not have been reflected in the first place," he added. - GMANews.TV