'Brillantes can defend himself'

MANILA, Philippines -  Malacañang said yesterday while it may have concerns over the accusations of Sen. Alan Peter Cayetano against Commission on Elections (Comelec) chairman Sixto Brillantes Jr., it would still be up to the poll body chief to defend himself before the Commission on Appointments (CA).

“We’re saying that there’s a process to air and resolve those issues that are being raised and that process is with Congress at this point, not with us,” Secretary Ricky Carandang of the Presidential Communications Strategic and Development Office said.

Cayetano, leader of the Senate minority bloc, accused Brillantes of blackmailing him, saying the Comelec chairman wanted him to approve his confirmation in exchange for a favorable Comelec ruling on an election protest case against his wife, Taguig Mayor Lani Cayetano.

Being an independent constitutional body, he said the job of President Aquino ended when he made the appointment, and it would depend on the bicameral screening committee to confirm Brillantes’ appointment as Comelec chief.

“Everyone who is accused has the presumption of innocence until proven otherwise. I expect that these issues will be aired when Brillantes faces the (CA). So let’s wait for that to happen,” he said.

Carandang said it is for this reason that there is a body that screens and vets appointees of the President to government posts.

He expects Cayetano to raise the issue before the CA once it convenes, and said the proper place for Brillantes to address the allegations would also be the CA.

“It’s an independent body and he doesn’t necessarily have to formally give us an explanation. So we hope that all of these matters will be cleared up during the (CA) hearings,” he explained.

Delaying tactics?

Brillantes said in a press briefing yesterday he is willing to be investigated over what he described as Cayetano’s “false accusation” that he claims could be a “dilatory tactic” to hold up the poll body’s proceedings on the case against the senator’s wife.

He said for the last several weeks, the case has not been moving. “Suddenly, last week… an order came out from our second division, which I am not even aware of, that the retrieval of the ballot boxes of Taguig will now be implemented. With that order, he got angry again… This might be just a dilatory move,” Brillantes said.

Cayetano had earlier accused Brillantes of being biased because defeated Taguig mayoral candidate Dante Tiñga, who filed the poll protest, is a former client of the Comelec chief.

Brillantes said he does not need to bribe any member of the CA just to be confirmed. “There are 24 members in the CA… I can be confirmed with 22 or 23 votes… I just want to tell Senator Cayetano: If you don’t want to meet me as I’ve requested, all I ask is you be fair to me. You cannot confront me when I’m at the CA. Let the CA resolve it and decide. I’ll accept their decision,” he said.

Senate Majority Leader Vicente Sotto III and Sen. Gregorio Honasan, both CA members, said Cayetano and Brillantes will have to face each other before the CA. They also said Cayetano should also name Brillantes’ alleged intermediaries.

Sotto said there is a possibility that a CA member can be pressured by a Cabinet official and vice versa. He said there is a need to look into the issue to prevent the CA from being used, either by a member or an appointee.

Honasan is also concerned with how the CA will address Cayetano’s complaint since the body is mandated only to confirm or bypass a presidential appointee.

“Should an investigation be made by a proper committee once a motion to investigate is made during the hearing?” he said. – With Sheila Crisostomo, Christina Mendez