Comelec personnel urged to turn state witness in ACM case

Senate Minority Leader Aquilino Pimentel Jr. urged employees of the Commission on Elections (Comelec) to come out and turn state witness against the poll officials involved in the MegaPacific bidding scandal.

Pimentel particularly turned his appeal to the employees of the Comelec’s bids and awards committee to turn state witness to unravel the truth behind the controversial P1.3 billion poll computerization contract.

"The minor employees may volunteer to be state witnesses and blow the whistle on the erring Comelec commissioners," Pimentel said.

The opposition senator made the statement claiming an apparent attempt to make Commissioner Resurreccion Borra the fall guy in the scandal.

Although lauding the Office of the Ombudsman for resolving the case, Pimentel said all involved in the project should face investigation and prosecution.  

"It’s a good start but it should not end there. All Comelec commissioners who were involved in the anomalous MegaPacific contract should be prosecuted. Borra should not be made the sole scapegoat," he said.

The Ombudsman on Friday recommended Borra’s impeachment for his involvement in the anomalous awarding of the poll automation contract to MegaPacific.

Under the contract, MegaPacific would supply nearly 2,000 automated vote-counting machines to the Comelec for use in the May 10, 2004 elections.

In January 2004, the Supreme Court declared the automation deal as illegal, saying the Comelec’s bidding process for the machines was flawed.

The high tribunal also ordered MegaPacific to return the P1.3 billion already paid for the counting machines.

The Ombudsman has recommended the filing of graft charges against Borra, who headed the Comelec’s modernization program.

Comelec Chairman Benjamin Abalos, however, escaped liability over the deal.

Over the weekend, Malacañang expressed hope for a speedy resolution to the poll automation anomaly case involving Borra and other Comelec officials.

Presidential chief of staff Michael Defensor said the case might cast a shadow over the 2007 midterm elections if it drags on until next year.

"I think it is in the national interest that this should be immediately resolved, especially with an election coming up," Defensor said.

"You cannot have someone in the Comelec who is being accused of some serious allegations at this point in time," he said.

Malacañang still maintained its distance from the looming impeachment and graft case against Borra and five other poll officials even as it continued to worry over its possible implications in the coming May 2007 midterm elections.

Justice Secretary Raul Gonzalez, on the other hand, dismissed questions over the move of Ombudsman Merceditas Gutierrez to single out Borra and exempt other commissioners involved in the anomaly.

Gonzalez said the Ombudsman must be given a chance to do its job being an independent constitutional body.

"Well, you know you cannot satisfy everybody whatever is the action to be taken but I will also agree that if there are others responsible, they should be charged otherwise it would become a selective justice," Gonzalez said in reply to the query made by Pimentel.

Even with good intentions, Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita and Gonzalez said Malacañang cannot intervene in the case as it would be interfering in the functions of two independent constitutional bodies.

The two officials admitted the recommendation comes at a bad time with the midterm elections just 10 months away and the shadow of the so-called "Hello Garci" election-rigging controversy still hangs over the Arroyo administration.

"This should be a national government concern but Malacañang is not active in putting a finger into it because both the Comelec and the Ombudsman are independent bodies so we do not want to be said as having intervened," Ermita said.

"So if that’s the decision of the Ombudsman, that’s the Ombudsman’s game and Malacañang has nothing to do whatsoever with that," he said.

As far as Malacañang is concerned, Ermita said the case is "a cause for concern so our actions would really have to be measured because we don’t want to be seen as taking sides."

Gonzalez, for his part, described the development as a "very sensitive situation."

"The moment the Executive branch will do something about this, it might be accused of interference," Gonzalez said. "We would rather that the process of impeachment proceed without us lifting a finger."

Gonzalez urged the people not to speculate over the case and allow the legal process to proceed smoothly. — With Paolo Romero