Comelec chief to face CA again Aug. 9

MANILA, Philippines - Commission on Elections (Comelec) Chairman Sixto Brillantes will face the Commission on Appointments (CA) again this Aug. 9 and, according to Senate Minority Leader Alan Peter Cayetano, he has to explain why he still has the officials involved in the “Hello, Garci” controversy holding key posts in the poll body.

Cayetano, who took up the entire CA hearing of Brillantes last Wednesday questioning the Comelec chairman, came out with a list of names of key players in the “Hello, Garci” issue who are still occupying positions in the Comelec.

On top of the list was Ray Sumalipao, who Cayetano noted was the most mentioned name as the operator of former Comelec commissioner Virgilio Garcillano, supposedly the root of the Garci issue.

In the 2004 elections when massive cheating allegedly took place, Sumalipao was then assistant election director of Region XI and concurrent acting election director of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM).

According to Cayetano, Sumalipao is now ARMM election director.

The “Hello, Garci” controversy involves a series of wiretapped conversations between Garcillano and several politicians who ran in the 2004 elections, including former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.

Arroyo, who won a fresh six-year term in that election, eventually issued an apology for what she said was poor judgment in calling up an election official to ask about the status of her votes.

Apart from Sumalipao, Cayetano named the following as key players in the controversy: Renault Macarambon of Lanao del Sur who is currently head of the Comelec’s election and barangay affairs division; Renato Magbutay, election director of Region X; Teopisto Elnas Jr., Director 4 of the election and barangay affairs division; Cirilo Nala Jr., Comelec supervisor of Surigao del Sur; and Francisco Pobe, election director of the CARAGA region.

Cayetano said that he was surprised why Sumalipao was tasked by Brillantes to handle the ARMM elections, which was originally scheduled for Aug. 8 this year but would now be postponed after Congress voted to synchronize it with the 2013 midterm elections.

In the 2004 elections, the camp of the late actor and presidential candidate Fernando Poe Jr. alleged that massive poll fraud took place in Mindanao where he was supposed to have a strong support base but lost by a wide margin to Arroyo.

Though it was never proven that the former president benefited from cheating in the 2004 polls, several critics of Arroyo, including Cayetano, never considered the Garci issue closed.

Cayetano said that he doubted the sincerity of Brillantes in bringing closure to the “Hello, Garci” scandal because he has not done anything about the officials he mentioned as key players in the controversy.

“When you said you were preparing for the ARMM polls before we passed a law to postpone it to 2013, I have to question why you not only chose to go manual but even chose attorney Sumalipao to handle it. What will the perception be based on that?” Cayetano said.

“You have to ask who was involved and where are they now. You cannot use due process as a reason because the President did not appoint you to become the lawyers of these officials in question. If we retain the same people in ARMM then any form of reform will just be on paper,” he added.

Brillantes has gone through two hearings with the CA and would be returning for a third this Aug. 9 when Congress convenes for its second regular session.

The CA is the constitutionally mandated body composed of members of Congress that scrutinizes the appointments made by the President.

It has the power to accept or reject the appointments.

Apart from Brillantes, two Cabinet members of President Aquino – Justice Secretary Leila de Lima and Social Welfare Secretary Corazon Soliman – were also considered bypassed because the CA never got to go over their appointments.