Abalos says he can’t prevent brother from joining party-list race

Commission on Elections (Comelec) Chairman Benjamin Abalos declared yesterday he had nothing to do with the nomination of his older brother as party-list representative.

Abalos stressed there is nothing in the law that could prevent his brother Arsenio from being nominated to represent a party-list organization composed of tricycle drivers.

It just so happened that Arsenio was the brother of the Comelec chairman, he stressed.

"Is it my fault if he wants to run? He has been into politics longer than me. I cannot stop him from organizing this," Abalos said of his brother, who is a doctor by profession.

Abalos said his brother, the nominee of the party-list group Biyaheng Pinoy, has the necessary political experience.

He claimed Arsenio was a former barangay chairman in Mandaluyong for a number of years and worked as a city councilor, representing the barangay chairmen of the city as president of the Association of Barangay Captains (ABC).

Abalos made the declaration after he was criticized by Akbayan Rep. Loretta Ann Rosales, who had earlier asked the Comelec to disqualify 11 party-list groups, including Biyaheng Pinoy.

Rosales alleged the organizations are getting financial and logistical support from Malacañang and the administration.

Rosales suspected Biyaheng Pinoy is a front since its principal nominee turned out to be the elder brother of the Comelec chairman.

Rosales said the party-list groups Babae Ka, Ang Kasangga, Akbay Pinoy, Aksyon Sambayanan (AKSA), Agbiag!, Timpuyog Ilocano Inc., Ahon Pinoy, Biyaheng Pinoy, Aangat Tayo, Aangat ang Kabuhayan (ANAK), Alliance for Nationalism and Democracy (ANAD) and KAKUSA are government fronts.

The groups include two that were identified with retired Maj. Gen. Jovito Palparan, who has been linked by the Melo Commission and by militant organizations to strings of unexplained killings in the areas he was assigned to.

Palparan has admitted he would seek a House seat through a party-list group which he did not name.

Abalos told Rosales that the poll body would look into the finances of each of the 11 party-list organizations.

In his letter to Rosales, the Comelec chief said the decision to disqualify any of these party-list groups will be based on evidence presented before the poll body.

Comelec Commissioner Resurreccion Borra said Rosales and any other complainant questioning the accreditation of certain party-list groups should formalize their complaint.

Borra said the poll body cannot just act on the basis of a letter submitted before them, but by way of a formal complaint supported by hard evidence.

Rosales, for her part, made a formal apology to Dante Ang, chairman of the Commission on Filipinos Overseas (CFO), for falsely accusing him of helping Ahon Pinoy!, a new party-list participant, with funds from his agency.

Rosales admitted her error, saying she relied on a document that she saw on the Ahon Pinoy! website purportedly indicating Ang was using CFO money to help the new party-list group, whose top nominee is Ang’s son Dante Francis, nicknamed Klink.

She acknowledged the possibility the document was spurious.

Ang promptly thanked Rosales for admitting her mistake.

"I thank her for demonstrating a strong sense of humility and fairness. That comes as a gust of fresh wind at a time when public officials rarely admit their mistakes," he said.

Ang said his son Dante Francis needs no help from him in building up Ahon Pinoy!, which seeks to represent overseas Filipino workers in Congress.

"He and his group can very well take care of themselves," Ang said. – With Jess Diaz