Comelec revamp useless without Arroyo resignation, says Pimentel

Senate Minority Leader Aquilino Pimentel Jr. said yesterday that a revamp of the scandal-ridden Commission on Elections (Comelec) would be useless if President Arroyo does not resign.

Pimentel acknowledged that calls for the Comelec revamp are justified, and that the proof lies in the alleged wiretapped conversations between the President and a man believed to be former Comelec commissioner Virgilio Garcillano.

However, he added that nothing less than the President’s resignation will solve the problems the nation now faces.

Several sectors, including the opposition, have been calling for a revamp of the Cabinet and the rest of the bureaucracy — including the Comelec — as part of serious reforms they say must be undertaken by the President to restore the public’s trust and confidence in her administration.

He said that the revamp is necessary but, without Mrs. Arroyo’s resignation, the credibility of the government would remain in question because Mrs. Arroyo would only reappoint her own candidates to various vital posts.

He also aired suspicions that the calls for a Comelec revamp could be part of an administration ploy to divert attention from the opposition’s demand that the President resign.

Pimentel has been leading calls for Mrs. Arroyo’s resignation, saying she has lost all credibility and the moral ascendancy to govern because of the allegations of electoral fraud against her.