Palace mum on Comelec appointees

Malacañang has yet to finish screening possible replacements to two retired commissioners of the Commission on Elections (Comelec), according to Executive Secretary Alberto Romulo.

Ralph Lantion and Luzviminda Tancangco stepped down Monday after their seven-year terms expired. A committee headed by Bernardino Abes is tasked with screening and recommending nominees.

One of the nominees is Bal Endriga, president of the Cultural Center of the Philippines, Romulo told The STAR. Presidential Spokesman Ignacio Bunye was reportedly also named as possible replacement but he quickly begged off.

Bunye told The STAR his health could not cope with the pressure at the Comelec with the May 10 national and local elections only three months away.

In a separate radio interview, Bunye rejected speculation from the camp of opposition presidential aspirant Fernando Poe Jr. that President Arroyo plans to manipulate the outcome of a petition pending with the Comelec seeking Poe’s disqualification.

Three of the seven-member Comelec, including chairman Benjamin Abalos, are Arroyo appointees. Poe’s camp fears the two new commissioners might tilt the balance against Poe and lead to his disqualification from the May 10 presidential race.

Sen. Aquilino Pimentel Jr., who is seeking reelection under Poe’s coalition, said Mrs. Arroyo could be delaying the appointments to prevent the bicameral Commission on Appointments from screening the replacements. Congress is scheduled to adjourn on Friday for the election break. Sessions will resume in June.

"The basic considerations of the President in this matter is, first of all, qualifications, integrity and the capability to implement the election laws," Bunye said.

Pimentel urged the Senate and the House of Representatives to extend their session and to await the new Comelec appointments. Only through the confirmation process can the integrity and independence of the incoming election commissioners be tested, he said.

Yesterday, the Comelec en banc — minus Lantion and Tancangco — began hearings on the petition. Last Jan. 23, the Comelec’s three-member first division rejected the petition for lack of merit. The petitioners, lawyers Andresito and Victorino Fornier, said Poe should be disqualified because he is not a natural-born Filipino citizen. Poe’s parents both held foreign citizenship at the time of his birth, they said.

Rejecting their arguments, election officials said Poe’s father was a Filipino citizen in spite of his Spanish heritage and, therefore, the younger Poe is a natural-born Filipino.