Bypassed Comelec commissioners now ‘jobless’

Commission on Elections (Comelec) Commissioners Virgilio Garcillano and Manuel Barcelona will be left jobless after June 30 since their appointments have been effectively bypassed after Congress adjourned sine die last Friday, Senate President Franklin Drilon said yesterday.

Drilon, chairman of the 25-member bicameral Commission on Appointments (CA), told The STAR that President Arroyo cannot reappoint or issue a new ad interim appointments to the two commissioners since she is bound by the appointment ban until the end of her term at noon of June 30.

Under the ban, Mrs. Arroyo cannot appoint new officials outside of the executive department, much more in constitutional bodies including the Comelec, Drilon said.

"If ever, (the President) can only appoint officials in government after 12:01 p.m. of June 30 or the next day, July 1," Drilon said.

In a separate interview, a Palace official agreed with Drilon’s observations on the appointments.

The official explained that under the 1987 Constitution, the President is authorized to appoint officials "on temporary basis (ad interim)" while Congress is not in session, an exemption provided by law on appointees to the Comelec and other constitutional bodies.

But Mrs. Arroyo is precluded from appointing any official between now and June 30 "lest she be accused of issuing midnight appointments," the official stressed.

The appointments of Garcellano and Barcelona were not taken up by the CA due to the objections raised by opposition Sen. Aquilino Pimentel Jr.

When Mrs. Arroyo first named Garcellano to the poll body in February at the start of the campaign period, Pimentel stood out against the appointment.

Pimentel earlier accused Garcellano behind the "dagdag-bawas" (vote-padding and -shaving) operations in Mindanao which led to his losing his senatorial bid in 1995.

Mrs. Arroyo appointed Garcillano and Barcelona to the poll body last Feb. 11 to replace former commissioners Luzviminda Tancangco and Ralph Lantion who retired early that month.

Malacañang defended the appointments, saying Mrs. Arroyo has no legal infirmity in naming Garcellano and Barcelona to the Comelec.

"In view, there is nothing outside of the law, no law was violated in the appointment of the two (Comelec) commissioners," Presidential Spokesman Ignacio Bunye said.

Bunye made the statement after the appointments were questioned, prompting Palace officials led by Executive Secretary Alberto Romulo to explain before the Supreme Court its legality.

With Garcillano and Barcelona effectively turning "jobless" after June 30, the seven-man Comelec will be reduced to only five members.

With this development, opposition lawyer Sixto Brillantes pointed out Comelec will be left undermanned.

Brillantes warned there may be further delay in the disposition of electoral cases particularly those requiring decisions en banc.

Comelec en banc decisions requires four concurring votes from its commissioners to have a majority and maintain a quorum itself or "else its proceedings could be questioned," Brillantes pointed out.

"The old problem of these Commission will be back. It would always be long and slow (for cases to be decided)," he said.

"Chairman (Benjamin Abalos) is sick, Commissioner (Rufino Javier) is often out, so that leaves three, Comelec may not function with that number," he said.

Notwithstanding the possibility that Garcillano and Barcelona can be reappointed, Brillantes cited the case of two Comelec commissioners whose appointments were left unconfirmed in 1998.

Before his term expired, former President Fidel Ramos appointed two commissioners to the poll body but were never reappointed when then Vice President Joseph Estrada was proclaimed the new president.

"Our appointment is ad interim. If Congress does not act on it and they adjourned, that means technically, we were bypassed," Garcillano said.

Garcillano and Barcelona were named to the two vacant Comelec seats after Congress adjourned last February.

But when Congress reconvened as the National Board of Canvassers to tabulate the votes and proclaim the president and the vice president, their appointments were never taken up by the lawmakers comprising the CA.

"It is reality that we have to accept," Garcillano said. "There is a constitutional provision which has to be followed."

He noted the prohibition against an outgoing President making new appointments 60 days before a new president takes over.

Reports show it may take Congress two more weeks to determine if President Arroyo could get a full six-year term. Under the Constitution, the President is only allowed to serve one term of six years. - With Jose Aravilla