P-Noy urged to appoint 'insiders' for 2 Comelec posts

MANILA, Philippines - Rank-and-file employees of the Commission on Elections (Comelec) urged President Aquino yesterday to appoint “insiders” as replacements of outgoing commissioners Nicodemo Ferrer and Gregorio Larrazabal.

In a statement, Alliance of Comelec Employees in Service (ACES) president Luallah Pama said insiders would be able to focus more on the preparation for elections and on resolution of cases because they are already familiar with the inner workings of the poll body.

“We believe they know by heart not only the inner workings of the Commission but, more importantly, the needs and concerns of Comelec personnel nationwide,” Pama said.

ACES has nominated Comelec law department director Ferdinand Rafanan, personnel department director Adolfo Ibañez and Bicol regional election director Zacarias Zaragosa to the positions to be vacated by the two retiring commissioners.

Ferrer and Larrazabal will retire on Feb. 2 after a seven-year tenure.

Pama said they hope the “voices of those who will be serving under the new poll officials would be considered by the appointing powers.”

“While we are aware that the final choice for the Comelec commissioners’ posts rests on the President, we urge him to consider our pick for these very important positions,” she added.

ACES said that Rafanan is fit for the job since he is known for his integrity and probity “as exemplified during his role as chairman of the Comelec Bids and Awards Committee for the 2010 Automation Project.”

Ibañez, on the other hand, is known “as an excellent manager and administrator considering his vast experience as regional election director and then as head of the poll body’s Personnel Department that is in charge of more than 6,000 Comelec employees nationwide.”

ACES added that Zaragosa “would be a good choice in bringing to the commission en banc the concerns of poll workers in the field as manifested by his effort to initiate the recent construction of the Comelec regional office building in Bicol, the first among all regions.”

Meanwhile, environmentalists urged newly appointed Comelec Chairman Sixto Brillantes to pursue green electoral reforms. 

“In view of his promise to carry out massive reforms within the commission, we urge Chairman Brillantes to equally introduce changes that will ‘green’ and cut the wastefulness in future polls,” Roy Alvarez, president of the EcoWaste Coalition, said in a letter to Comelec.

“We hope that the Comelec, under your watch, will exercise effective leadership to protect not only the sanctity of the ballot, but also safeguard the environment from further degradation associated with political activities,” EcoWaste told Brillantes.

Campaign posters and streamers, many of which are made of non-biodegradable material, usually comprise the bulk of garbage found in streets and waterways after every election.

“Our monitoring of the 2007 and 2010 elections shows blatant breach of electoral as well as health and environmental regulations traceable to the failure of Comelec, national agencies and local government units to enforce existing electoral and environmental laws,” EcoWaste said.– With Rhodina Villanueva