Disqualify 2 new Comelec execs, SC asked

Two lawyers asked the Supreme Court yesterday to nullify President Arroyo’s appointment of two controversial commissioners to the Commission on Elections (Comelec), saying it was unconstitutional and made obviously for partisan purposes.

Petitioners Agripino Baybay III and Paulino Ungos III sought a temporary restraining order to stop Comelec Commissioners Virgilio Garcillano and Manuel Barcelona Jr. from assuming their duties and functions at the poll body.

In filing the petition, Baybay and Ungos said they were representing a group of young lawyers called "Pro-Constitution" that serves as a watchdog against violations of the Charter.

They were accompanied in filing the petitions by former Senate secretary Demaree Raval, who is also part of Sen. Edgardo Angara’s legal staff. Baybay said he also used to work at the Senate.

Named respondents in the case were Executive Secretary Alberto Romulo, Garcillano and Barcelona.

The two petitioners said the SC should "put an end to Mrs. Arroyo’s use of her appointing power to ensure her victory in the coming May elections."

They noted that Garcillano is being criticized for his alleged involvement in previous election irregularities when he was regional director of the Comelec in Northern Mindanao.

Barcelona, on the other hand, reportedly has very close ties with First Gentleman Jose Miguel Arroyo and had made financial contributions to Mrs. Arroyo when she ran for vice president in the 1998 elections.

The petitioners said the ad interim appointments of Garcillano and Barcelona on Feb. 7 were invalid and irregular because of their constitutional defects.

They pointed out Article IX (C) Section 1 (2) of the Constitution, which categorically states that "the chairman and the commissioners shall be appointed by the President with the consent of the Commission on Appointments for a term of seven years without reappointment. Appointment to any vacancy shall be only for the unexpired term of the predecessor. In no case shall any member be appointed or designated in a temporary or acting capacity."

"As the appointments were consciously made to evade confirmation by the Commission on Appointments, the same must be struck down for being unconstitutional as they clearly derogate upon the principle of checks and balances," the petitioners averred.

When the appointments were made, the petitioners said it was already certain that these would not be passed upon by the CA but still the President proceeded, knowing fully well that they would never be confirmed.

"Hence, such appointments are effectively temporary in nature (and not allowed under the law)," they said in the petition, adding that Malacañang also acted with grave abuse of discretion by making an appointment while Congress was in recess.

The legislative body will resume session on May 24 but only to convene as board of canvassers for the presidential and vice presidential elections on May 10. Thus, the CA will not have the opportunity to confirm or reject any appointment issued by the President.

"Such a veiled attempt to circumvent the intent of the Constitution is deplorable, not only with the way it was engineered but also with the resultant effect of derogating the constitutional principle of checks and balances," the petitioners said.

"It is clear therefore that she intended the appointments to be merely temporary and to last only until June 11, 2004 when the appointments will lapse following the next adjournment of Congress," they added.

They claimed that Mrs. Arroyo "put in place commissioners of the Comelec who will be at her mercy, pleading for permanent appointment."

"Commissioners with a temporary appointments are not expected to be impartial; they are, in the meantime, temporary and in danger of being replaced anytime and would do anything at the bidding of the appointing authority," they added.

The Koalisyon ng Nagkakaisang Pilipino earlier called on Mrs. Arroyo to recall the appointment of Garcillano and Barcelona following their formal support to the disqualification move against KNP standard-bearer Fernando Poe Jr.

Re-electionist Sen. Aquilino Pimentel Jr., one of the 12 senatorial candidates of the KNP, said that he can present witnesses to prove that Garcillano was involved in irregularities in past elections in Mindanao.