'Comelec chief race not limited to 2'

MANILA, Philippines - A Malacañang official yesterday said the selection process for the next chairman of the Commission on Elections (Comelec) will not be limited to veteran election lawyers Romulo Macalintal and Sixto Brillantes Jr.

There are rumors that the competition for chairmanship has been narrowed down to the two, who are reportedly the bets of the Balay and Samar factions within President Aquino’s Cabinet.

The Balay faction is supposedly rooting for Macalintal, while the Samar group allegedly supports Brillantes.

Both lawyers had worked for Aquino.

 Presidential spokesman Edwin Lacierda downplayed the speculations.

 “To the best of our knowledge, nobody is pushing for the nomination of Macalintal and Brillantes.

They were asked because the President wanted an election expert in the Comelec. There are no factions here. Nobody is pushing for anyone,” he said.                                                                    

Lacierda said there are other nominees for the position like lawyers Carlos Medina, endorsed by members of civil society, and Alex Lacson, defeated senatorial candidate of the Liberal Party in the May 2010 elections and a close friend of the President.

“The final appointing authority will be the President, so it all depends on his appraisal and interview with the nominees,” he said.

Comelec Chairman Jose Melo’s resignation will take effect on Jan. 31.

Sources disclosed that the Balay faction, headed by defeated vice presidential candidate Mar Roxas, wants Macalintal appointed as Comelec chair to prevent the appointment of Brillantes to the post.

Roxas has supposedly been pressuring Aquino to appoint Macalintal because installing Brillantes in the Comelec would be like supporting Sen. Francis Escudero, a potential rival in the 2016 presidential elections.

The pressure, said insiders, had displeased Aquino. Lacierda, however, said that Roxas still enjoys the trust of the President. 

Several sectors question the prominence of Brillantes and Macalintal in the list of nominees for Comelec chairmanship because of their involvement in partisan politics.

Macalintal had represented former president Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo during the canvassing of the 2004 election and in the subsequent electoral protest filed by her closest rival, the late actor Fernando Poe Jr. He was also Aquino’s legal counsel when he first ran as congressman in 1995.

Brillantes, on the other hand, was the legal counsel of the Liberal Party in the May 2010 elections. 

Macalintal said his family has not yet even agreed to let him enter government service. “This is what we have been fearing – the intrigues. And it has not been formally offered to me and I have not accepted it,” he said in a phone interview. 

Brillantes said both he and Macalintal are professional in handling the cases of their clients. 

“We are handling our cases professionally. They are our clients and we don’t have any personal relationship with them,” he said. – Delon Porcalla, Aurea Calica, Sheila Crisostomo