Brillantes takes oath as new Comelec chairman

MANILA, Philippines - Newly appointed Commission on Elections (Comelec) chairman Sixto Brillantes vowed to prioritize preparations for the next computerized polls in 2013 as he took his oath of office yesterday at the Supreme Court before Associate Justice Antonio Eduardo Nachura.

Brillantes, whose appointment papers were signed by President Aquino last Saturday night, said the reorganization of the Comelec would also be on top of his agenda.

“We want to get the ball rolling for the preparations for the elections and also reorganization because more or less, we already know what the problem is inside the Comelec,” said Brillantes, who assumed the post vacated by Jose Melo who opted to step down weeks earlier than his scheduled Jan. 31, 2011 retirement date.

Brillantes will serve the unfinished term of Melo until 2015.

Brillantes admitted that he initially had second thoughts when President Aquino offered him the plum post because it would be a big “financial sacrifice” considering his earnings as a practicing election lawyer.

“I told the President I would be losing much,” he said.

But the 71-year-old lawyer finally decided to accept the position, believing that public service would be a good way to cap his career.

“I thought, anyway I’m already retiring and I have never served in government before so why not now. Maybe this would be a good way to cap my career – through public service,” he said.

“You know that I didn’t ask for this, but it is something that you cannot resist,” he said.

Brillantes said he might go to the Comelec office today to attend meetings and his first flag ceremony as poll chief.

He assured the public that he would not favor friends and former clients who have pending cases before the poll body.

The new poll chief also said he is resigning from the Brillantes Et Al Law Offices since he is now prohibited to practice as election lawyer, but will make sure that he will meet with his clients to inform them on what will happen to their cases.

He also vowed to inhibit in cases involving his former clients to avoid any accusations of conflict of interest.

No more cramming

Comelec spokesman James Jimenez, meantime, said the new Comelec chief really needs to initiate preparations for the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) elections in August as well as the 2013 midterm polls, even at this early stage.

“We don’t want to cram again for the preparations if we want to do better,” Jimenez said.

The militant umbrella organization Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (Bayan) called on Brillantes yesterday to “clean up Comelec and rectify the systemic problems of fraud and corruption that have become the hallmark of the poll body.”

“(He) is now in a position to look into many of the problems that have plagued Comelec, especially the ghosts of election fraud over the past decade,” the group said in a statement.

“For the longest time, Comelec has been perceived as one of the most corrupt government agencies because of the conduct of its officials. Now is a good time to begin the process of cleaning up Comelec,” Bayan secretary general Renato Reyes Jr. said.

Among the issues that the group said Brillantes should look into are the involvement of officials in the rigging of the 2004 presidential elections, the various irregularities and anomalies in the approval of contracts for election paraphernalia, the problems that beset the 2010 automated polls, and the questionable groups and nominees that have participated in the party-list system.

Bayan also called on Brillantes to look into the abuses of the party-list system which was used by former Arroyo officials and other influential persons to try to gain seats in Congress.

Appointment welcomed

Justice Secretary Leila de Lima and the Parish Pastoral Council for Responsible Voting (PPCRV) lauded the appointment of Brillantes as the new Comelec chairman.

De Lima said she believes Brillantes has the moral ascendancy to lead Comelec, citing his competence and familiarity with the poll body, election system and its laws.

“He (Brillantes) brings not only a familiar face, a permanent fixture if you will, into the Comelec family but also a fresh infusion of energy and perspective into the Comelec organization,” De Lima said in a statement yesterday.

De Lima was among those consulted by President Aquino in choosing Melo’s replacement.

She was reportedly considered for the post until she requested that she be allowed to stay in the DOJ for what she described as “duties that need to be finished.”

PPCRV chairperson Henrietta de Villa agreed with De Lima that Brillantes is very familiar with election laws, having handled several high profile election cases in the past.

“The advantage of Atty. Brillantes is he knows election laws very well. Another thing is because of the so many election cases he has handled, he knows the Comelec people, he has a good knowledge of them,” De Villa said.

De Villa, however, pushed for a reorganization of the poll body “to make it more efficient and more ready to answer the challenges posed by elections nowadays.”

For his part, election lawyer Romulo Macalintal said the appointment of Brillantes to the commission was “God’s will,” adding that the latter is very suitable to the position.

Nachura’s recommendation

The STAR earlier reported that Brillantes may replace Melo, as per the recommendation of Nachura, who was reportedly President Aquino’s personal choice for the Comelec post.

Aquino and Nachura were former colleagues at the House of Representatives – the former was Tarlac representative while the latter was congressman who represented his hometown Samar.

A reliable source revealed that Nachura was not keen on the Comelec post, as he did not want to retire from the High Court ahead of his June 2011 retirement, when he reaches the mandatory retirement age of 70 for members of the judiciary.

Brillantes was Nachura’s senior partner in his law firm, and his schoolmate at the San Beda College of Law.

Among Brillantes’ law partners were fellow Bedans Rodolfo Robles, who topped the Bar in 1967, and Nachura, who ranked seventh in the same year.

Brillantes started his career as a legal researcher of the Court of Appeals in 1966, then later joined alleged Marcos crony Eduardo Cojuangco Jr. in 1971 and took up active law practice in 1978. – With Michael Punongbayan, Edu Punay, Helen Flores, Delon Porcalla