GMA vows ‘reformed’ Comelec by 2007

President Arroyo promised yesterday a reformed Commission on Elections by 2007 as she justified anew her admission that she spoke with a Comelec official to check on her votes last year because of the poor electoral system.

The President implied that she herself did not trust the electoral process to be clean and therefore sought additional monitoring.

"Imagine dahil ang ating electoral hindi naaayos, parati na lang kailangan tatawag-tawag sa Comelec para malaman ang impormasyon (Imagine, because our electoral system still needs to be fixed, there would always be a need to call Comelec to get information)," the President said yesterday in an interview with radio station dzRH.

The opposition released last month purported recordings of a wiretapped conversation in which Mrs. Arroyo is said to be speaking with an election official, widely believed to be then Comelec commissioner Virgilio Garcillano, about rigging the presidential poll in her favor.

Though she never admitted it was her voice on the recordings, Mrs. Arroyo apologized for the "lapse in judgment" in calling an election official. She insisted, though, that she never instructed the official to ensure her victory by a one-million-vote margin.

She said there would be vacancies in the poll body within the next two years as Comelec commissioners retire and she would be given the chance to appoint new ones.

"In other words, a majority of the Comelec (commissioners) will be new by the year 2007. I will come up with an effective search committee to help choose the new commissioners," Mrs. Arroyo said.

The President had earlier appointed retiring Court of Appeals Presiding Justice Romeo Brawner to replace Garcillano, who was bypassed by the Commission on Appointments a number of times.

Garcillano, in fact, has not surfaced since the wiretapped recordings were brought to public attention last month.

Comelec commissioners have a fixed tenure and cannot be replaced until they retire or are removed through impeachment.

Mrs. Arroyo also said she certified bills postponing the elections in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM), which had been set on Aug. 8, but Congress failed to act on them. She said this was one proof that the presidential form of government must be changed.

She explained that under this system, the lawmakers end up becoming fiscalizers or opponents instead of helping the executive branch. — With Mayen Jaymalin, Roel Pareño, Richel Umel, Marvin Sy, Christina Mendez, John Unson