EDITORIAL — Stonewalling

The Constitution says members of the Commission on Elections can be removed only by impeachment. Does this exempt Comelec commissioners from being investigated or sanctioned for wrongdoing? Comelec commissioners think so. The Office of the Ombudsman thinks otherwise, arguing that an investigation is necessary to recommend the impeachment of members of constitutional bodies.

The question may have to be settled by the Supreme Court. In the meantime, it will be good for Comelec commissioners to cooperate with the investigation being conducted by the Ombudsman in connection with the P1.2-billion poll automation contract scrapped by the Supreme Court two years ago.

Already the Office of the Ombudsman is in danger of losing its credibility after its initial report on the automation case recommended only one Comelec commissioner, Resurreccion Borra, for possible impeachment by the House of Representatives. The common question was why Comelec Chairman Benjamin Abalos was spared when any contract worth P1.2 billion surely required the imprimatur of all the poll body commissioners. The continuing investigation by the Ombudsman is meant to answer that question.

If Abalos has done nothing wrong, as he has professed since the Supreme Court invalidated the contract with the private consortium MegaPacific eSolutions, the best way to proclaim his innocence is by letting the Ombudsman declare it officially, after a credible investigation. This cannot happen if he insists on immunity from investigation by the agency tasked to deal with graft cases.

If Comelec commissioners insist on stonewalling, members of the House of Representatives should stop shirking their duty and give priority to reorganizing the poll body when Congress starts its third regular session next week. Despite the political crisis spawned by allegations of vote-rigging in the May 2004 elections, despite previous complaints about vote-shaving and padding, despite the botched poll automation deal and despite the approach of the 2007 elections, House members have shown great reluctance to overhaul the Comelec or initiate electoral reforms. Unless the House makes the proper move, the nation is stuck with a Comelec whose credibility is at its lowest.