Purisima confirmed, Brillantes bypassed

The Commission on Appointments (CA) on Wednesday bypassed the confirmation of Sixto Brillantes’ appointment as chairman of the Commission on Elections (Comelec) after many issues were raised against him by Sen. Alan Peter Cayetano.

In contrast, Finance Secretary Cesar Purisima breezed through the confirmation process, leaving only Justice Secretary Leila de Lima and Social Welfare Secretary Corazon “Dinky” Soliman as the only members of the Cabinet who have yet to hurdle the CA.

Cayetano confronted Brillantes on his stand on Comelec issues when he was still an election lawyer, from his previous petitions in last year’s automated elections to an old complaint against a “notorious” division within the Comelec.

Cayetano’s wife Lani ran and won by a slim margin against Brillantes’ former client, retired Justice Dante Tiñga, in the mayoral race in Taguig City in 2010.

The senator asked Brillantes to identify the head of the supposedly notorious Comelec division.

“I don’t really want to mention names but the person has retired already,” Brillantes replied.

By failing to get a confirmation on the last of day congressional session, he will again face the CA on Aug. 10 or four days before he celebrates his birthday.

“Sana naman maawa na sila sa akin,” he told reporters. “I hope that I would be able to be confirmed by that time so I would get a nice birthday.”