‘If Abalos is on leave, he can be impeached’

Former senator Francisco Tatad urged the House of Representatives yesterday to push through with the impeachment of resigned Commission on Elections chairman Benjamin Abalos, who has reportedly not officially resigned.

“There appears to be no record of Chairman Abalos having submitted a formal written letter of resignation to President Arroyo and of her having accepted such resignation, thereby rendering questionable the veracity of his announced resignation,” Tatad said in a statement.

Tatad, who chairs the Philippine Democratic Caucus and the Citizens vs. Corruption Task Force, said if Abalos has not really resigned, he can still be impeached.

“The published statement attributed to (Presidential Legal Counsel Sergio) Apostol that Abalos would be on terminal leave until his compulsory retirement on Feb. 8, 2008 confirms the fact that Abalos has not resigned and that there was no factual or legal basis for the House to abandon the impeachment case...

“Unless and until he (Abalos) resigns formally and that resignation is accepted by the appointing authority, he       remains an impeachable officer, and the interested parties have every reason to proceed with their impeachment complaint against Abalos,” Tatad added.

Acting Comelec chairman Resurreccion Borra said Abalos submitted his “irrevocable” resignation letter to the commission when he attended its meeting the other day.

“The en banc took note of this and appointed me as acting chair based on Comelec Resolution 7808,” Borra told The STAR.

The resolution stipulates that the most senior official of the poll body shall take over in case of a vacancy in the chairmanship.

Borra said Abalos cited in his resignation letter that he quit so that the Comelec would not be “pulled down by the vilification and attacks” against his person.

Abalos also made it known that he wanted to face his accusers in the proper forum so he did away with the immunity afforded to him as Comelec chief.

Borra, however, could not ascertain if Abalos had submitted his resignation to President Arroyo, the appointing authority for top officials of the Comelec, or if such is still required.

“I’m not privy to what he had done,” he said.

The STAR was able to reach Abalos but the latter refused to comment on Tatad’s statement.

“Bahala na sila kung ano ang sabihin nila (They can say what they want). I resigned to protect my family and the Comelec from undue publicity and the vicious and malicious attacks but they still won’t stop,” Abalos added.

Regarding opinions that he technically remains the Comelec chairman because he still has unused vacation leaves, Abalos said he decided not to use them.

“Maraming nga akong unused leaves since 2002 pero hindi ko na yon gagamitin. Nag-resign na nga ako, eh (I do have a lot of unused leaves but I will not use them. I already resigned),” he added.

Tatad cited the theory of constructive resignation, which the Supreme Court invented to justify the ouster of former President Joseph Estrada in 2001, which does not and cannot possibly apply to Abalos.

He said Abalos has to submit a formal letter of resignation to Mrs. Arroyo, who must accept it to be spared from impeachment.

“Abalos has to submit a formal letter of resignation, and President Arroyo must accept it in order for the same to be effective and place him beyond the reach of the impeachment process. Otherwise, the announced resignation, which Malacañang wants now to translate into a mere terminal leave of absence, is completely bogus and he would have succeeded in playing the entire nation for fools,” Tatad said.

Abalos resigned last Monday, saying he wants to spare the Comelec from further malicious attacks.

The Comelec chairman was accused of brokering for ZTE Corp. of China that won the contract for the $329-million national broadband network (NBN) project, which has since been cancelled.

Speaker Jose de Venecia’s son and namesake Jose de Venecia III, stockholder of Amsterdam Holdings Inc. that lost the NBN project to ZTE, told a Senate public hearing that Abalos tried to bribe him with $10 million to make him withdraw his firm’s broadband project proposal.

Iloilo Vice Gov. Rolex Suplico filed an impeachment complaint against Abalos at the House, but before the congressmen could start the impeachment process the Comelec chief resigned.

The President nullified the ZTE contract the other day.

Meanwhile, Supreme Court Justice Dante Tinga declared that he will not leave the SC to join the Comelec as chairman.

In a statement, Tinga denied reports that Abalos had recommended him as his replacement in the poll body.

“I have been authorized by the Hon. Dante O. Tinga, Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the Philippines, to state, concerning media reports naming him as a possible successor to the challenging position of Chairperson of the Commission on Elections, that he has no intention of leaving the Supreme Court in order to accept an appointment to another office,” said Tinga’s Judicial Staff Head lawyer Oliver Xavier Reyes.

The President had earlier said that she will not appoint a new Comelec chair yet because Abalos, who had already resigned, was considered on terminal leave for four months.

The Supreme Court last Sept. 11 issued a temporary restraining order (TRO) on the implementation of the multi-million dollar contract for the NBN deal with ZTE. - With Mike Frialde, Sheila Crisostomo