Comelec ready to open 13th senatorial slot if Santiago gives up seat

Comelec Chairman Sixto Brillantes

MANILA, Philippines – The Commission on Elections is in no hurry to open a 13th seat at the Senate but already has a plan just in case Senator Miriam Defensor-Santiago decides to resign, its chairman Sixto Brillantes Jr. said on Wednesday.

Asked whether Comelec would have 13 instead of 12 seats up for grabs in the 2013 polls, Brillantes said that they cannot preempt Senator Miriam Defensor-Santiago’s decision on whether she would stay or leave the Senate.

“We really do not know if Senator Miriam Defensor Santiago would resign. We will act on it as soon as [she] tenders her resignation, so far no word from her…,” he told reporters at the House of Representatives.

He said that they already have a “solution” in case Santiago decides to leave the Senate for her post as judge at the International Criminal Court in The Hague, Netherlands.

But he declined to give details.