Comelec plan to revive commissioner-in-charge system opposed

MANILA, Philippines – Ranking Commission on Elections (Comelec) officials expressed strong opposition to plans of the poll body to revive the controversial commissioner-in-charge (CIC) system.

Romeo Fortes, Comelec Regional Election Directors Organization (CREDO) president, yesterday said the CIC is subject to legal questions and could again lead to election irregularities.

“The CIC system is the balkanization of the regional offices in order for the commissioners to create fiefdoms during the election period,” Fortes said in a memorandum sent to Comelec Commissioner Christian Robert Lim.

Lim also objected to the CIC system, which he said has no basis or justification for the commission to seriously consider and approve its implementation.

“There seems to have been no study evaluation or comparative analysis made as to the advantages of the CIC for each region,” Lim said.

Under the CIC system, each commissioner is assigned specific administrative regions and possesses full authority to decide all election issues in his jurisdiction.

These include the power to authorize the transfer of venue of counting of votes, the power to place areas within their assigned areas under Comelec control and power to head the task force which shall implement Comelec control over local government units concerned, and the power to act on all requests or applications for transfer or reassignment of field officials and employees within their jurisdiction.

Although the system is intended to expedite decision-making of the commission, Fortes said it could be used as a ploy to have political control during the election period.

According to Fortes, the CIC “is the king of his region” with all actions of the regional office needing his approval and unlikely to be reversed by the commission.

“The CIC system also encourages conflicting decisions by different regions because the CICs have conflicting decisions based on expediency,” Fortes said.

He added that the CIC has no legal leg to stand on and would be an additional burden to the commissioners who already have policy-making and quasi-judicial functions.