‘Time to sleep, take a break’

After being bypassed seven times by the Commission on Appointments (CA) and months spent feuding with colleagues, Alfredo Benipayo is ready to bid the Commission on Elections (Comelec) goodbye.

"I will sleep. I’ll take a good vacation, a break from all of these," Benipayo told his staff at the Comelec after receiving official word that President Arroyo had appointed a replacement for him.

"I feel all right," Benipayo told reporters. "In a sense, I feel relieved. I wish the new chairman luck in the days ahead."

President Arroyo named Metro Manila Development Authority (MMDA) chairman Benjamin Abalos as the new Comelec chief after Benipayo failed to get confirmation from the bicameral CA.

Benipayo said he plans to take a vacation abroad next year but would first concentrate on one of his "true loves": teaching law at the University of Sto. Tomas and the University of the Philippines.

Although he refused to comment on his nomination to the Supreme Court, he admitted that his name has supposedly been included in the "short list" of nominees submitted by the Judicial and Bar Council (JBC) to the President for her consideration.

Benipayo described his stint as Comelec chairman as a "roller-coaster ride, full of excitement, full of anxiety, a lot of damage control and full of activities."

He said he harbored "no ill will against anyone," even the four Comelec commissioners with whom he never really saw eye to eye in more than one year at the helm of the poll body.

The four commissioners – Luzviminda Tancangco, Mehol Sadain, Rufino Javier and Ralph Lantion – staged a "coup" yesterday after they elected Javier as acting chairman in an apparent bid to spite Benipayo.

But Benipayo appeared stoical at his four detractors: "I wish them well. God bless them for the good of the commission and the country. I have no ill will against anyone."

The two other Comelec commissioners - Resurreccion Borra and Florentino Tuason Jr. - said they were disappointed that Benipayo was not reappointed by the President but expressed gratitude that Mrs. Arroyo reappointed them.

Benipayo said he is eager to turn over his Comelec responsibilities to Abalos as well as discuss all the preparations for the Sangguniang Kabataan and barangay elections on July 15 and the election modernization program.