Noy screens bets for Comelec post

MANILA, Philippines - President Aquino has started interviewing candidates for Commission on Elections (Comelec) chairman, in anticipation of Jose Melo’s resignation that will take effect at the end of the month.

“I have only been conducting interviews. So far those have been the only ones interviewed,” he said, in reference to his interviews Monday with veteran election lawyers Romulo Macalintal and Sixto Brillantes Jr.

“I have also been meeting and reading recommendations from various groups,” he said.

Melo’s successor will serve his unexpired term, which is until 2015.

Macalintal, election lawyer of former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, said he was honored just to be interviewed and considered for the post.

Undersecretary Abigail Valte disclosed that Malacañang will most probably get the replacements of retiring commissioners Nicodemo Ferrer and Gregorio Larrazabal from the same shortlist for the next Comelec chairman.

“I think the shortlist also contains nominees for the two other posts,” the deputy presidential spokesperson told Palace reporters in an informal briefing.

The two other Comelec commissioners are due to retire next month.

Valte confirmed Brillantes and Macalintal were indeed in Malacañang last Monday, but refused to give other details and names of other candidates interviewed for the post.

“I can confirm he (Macalintal) was in the (Presidential) Guest House. Brillantes was also there. But I’m not privy to the discussions. There are several people being considered for the chairmanship and for the two other commissioners,” she said.

“It would be better to see when the President will make the announcement about who will fill the three posts to be vacated,” Valte said.

The President earlier said he wanted to personally screen all the applicants for the chairmanship of the poll body before he appoints the successor of Melo.

He also confirmed there are “five names” that have been recommended by his search committee, but would not want to consider them nominees until such time that he interviews them personally.

Aside from integrity and impartiality, knowledge in information technology (IT) would definitely be an advantage, according to him, and applicants do not necessarily have to be justices or former justices of the Supreme Court (SC).

Aquino stressed that expertise in election law will definitely be a criterion because he is looking for somebody who has the skills and efficiency to address common concerns during election period.

Among the names that have so far cropped up were that of SC Justice Eduardo Antonio Nachura, Aquino’s former colleague at the House of Representatives, retired SC Justice Leonardo Quisumbing, Brillantes and Macalintal.

However, he refused to confirm or deny the names that Melo mentioned, saying he had not spoken with him since the last Oct. 25 barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan elections, where the outgoing Comelec chief expressed his desire to cut short his seven-year term.

As this developed, Comelec employees came up with their own set of criteria for the agency’s next chairman and commissioners.

In a statement, the Alliance of Comelec Employees in Services (ACES) said the incoming Comelec chairman and commissioners must have “integrity, knowledge, credibility, independence and pro-worker credentials.”

“They must be God fearing, have an impeccable character and the heart for the rank and file employees of the Comelec,” the group said, urging Aquino to take their recommendations into consideration.

ACES president Luallah Elisa Pama said they “want a Comelec chairman who is truly independent and not in anyway beholden to anyone.”

“The next set of commissioners should be insiders who are knowledgeable in the inner workings of the Commission,” she added.

Catholic Church has own nominees

Meanwhile, Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP)-National Secretariat for Social Action, Justice and Peace (Nassa) chairman Manila Auxiliary Bishop Broderick Pabillo said their organization is lobbying for upright individuals, new blood and technical savvy to fill the positions that would be vacated by Melo and the two commissioners.

They have nominated lawyer Carlos Medina Jr. of the Legal Network for Truthful Elections (Lente) and lawyer Antonio Pastelero for the chairmanship.

“Yes, we recommended people to the Comelec. For the chairman position, we nominated Medina because we know him and he is part of Lente. He is an upright person, knowledgeable in election laws, and he is also a lawyer. He is from Ateneo and knows about technology,” Pabillo said.

Pastelero, on the other hand, has been practicing the profession for 35 years and has extensive experience in litigation and corporate law.

The bishop said he was not in favor of officials from the Comelec to fill the positions, and believed that appointing outsiders would be better because there would be “check and balance.”

He also did not favor those who retired from the SC to lead the Comelec.

“He (Nachura) is already with the SC, the justices who are part of the SC are already old and no longer have the energy. What we need is new blood and someone who knows about technology since the (elections) are already automated,” said Pabillo.

Nachura is already 69 years old.

When asked if he was disappointed with the performance of Melo, the Church official gave an affirmative answer.

“While we would believe in his (Melo’s) uprightness, his competency regarding the automation remains unanswered. It was as if he was just mouthing what Smartmatic was saying,” Pabillo said.

Nassa is one of the 13 organizations that are members of the Transparency and Accountability Network (TAN), which recently sent its shortlist of nominees to President Aquino. – Sheila Crisostomo, Evelyn Macairan, Charlie Lagasca