Comelec officials face test graft raps

Sen. Aquilino Pimentel Jr. filed yesterday a test graft case before the Ombudsman challenging the contention that members of the Commission on Elections (Comelec) cannot be criminally charged prior to their impeachment by Congress.

Arguing that Comelec members are not immune from suit, Pimentel filed the corruption charges against Comelec Chairman Benjamin Abalos and Commissioners Luzviminda Tancangco, Ralph Lantion, Mehol Sadain, Resurreccion Borra, Rufino Javier and Florentino Tuason.

The graft charges stemmed from the SC ruling that junked the contract the Comelec awarded to a private consortium for the purchase of automated counting machines.

But Abalos dismissed the charges as a ploy to win votes in the May 10 congressional elections. Pimentel is running for re-election under the opposition Koalisyon ng Nagkakaisang Pilipino (KNP).

"That is nothing," Abalos said, citing the opinion of Chief Justice Hilario Davide Jr., who held that the Comelec’s contract with the Mega Pacific Consortium was above board.

"What again could be his purpose? It is so easy to ride on issues," he added.

But citing the SC ruling that admonished the Comelec for irregularities in the bidding, Pimentel challenged the legal stand that Comelec commissioners could not be criminally charged because they are impeachable constitutional officers.

Pimentel held that although Comelec commissioners are constitutional officers, they are not immune from suit, unlike the President, Vice President, justices of the Supreme Court and members of Congress.

"It is my position that the respondent commissioners may be validly sued criminally even as they are not being impeached because there is nothing in the Constitution that suggests that they should first be impeached before they may be held liable for violating the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act," he said.

"They are not immune (from) criminal prosecution even before impeachment because they are not in the same category as the president or members of the SC or of Congress," Pimentel contended.

He cited American jurisprudence which holds that impeachable officials are not immune to criminal charges while in office.

"If the commissioners violate the law, they may be made immediately accountable because they are not above the law," he said.

Pimentel further argued that waiting until after the Comelec commissioners’ impeachment "will frustrate the ends of justice because it would impose a condition that is impossible to accomplish," especially since Congress only has 20 session days left before it adjourns sine die.

The senator also asked Ombudsman Simeon Marcelo not to allow the Comelec commissioners to retire or resign as provided by Republic Act No. 3019, or the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act. Tancangco and Lantion are set to retire successively early next month.

Allowing impeachable officials to retire or resign, according to Pimentel, "would make a mockery of the provisions of the Constitution and the laws that make public officials accountable (for) their actuations while in office."

Pimentel’s suit contradicted the Ombudsman’s announced position that only non-impeachable Comelec officials involved in the automated counting machine contract are criminally and administratively liable.

The position was announced by Ombudsman spokesman Ernesto Nocos, who said that the Supreme Court ruling served as a guide for Ombudsman probers, headed by lawyer Melchor Arthur Carandang, who were given one month to investigate the contract.

Meanwhile, Vice President Teofisto Guingona urged Malacañang to make public the list of candidates for the two seats to be vacated by Tancangco and Lantion.

"We are certain that Malacañang already has a short list of individuals being considered to fill the upcoming vacancies. We urge that the names of the prospective appointees be made public now so we can be assured that they are non-partisan and fully qualified to serve in the constitutional body," Guingona said. — With Sheila Crisostomo, Jess Diaz, Jose Rodel Clapano, Jose Aravilla