Comelec still waiting for Santiago’s word on Senate seat

Senator Miriam Defensor-Santiago. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

The Commission on Elections (Comelec) on Wednesday said it could not consider suggestions to open a 13th slot in next year’s senatorial race in anticipation of the departure of Senator Miriam Defensor Santiago for the International Criminal Court (ICC) until the senator herself announces when she is leaving.

Comelec Chairman Sixto Brillantes said the poll body can only move to replace Santiago when it knows when she will depart.

“We will act on it as soon as Miriam enters her resignation. Since she has not said when this would be, we cannot take action,” Brillantes said Wednesday.

He made the statement in reaction to a suggestion from Senator Franklin Drilon to count as a winner whoever places 13th in the 2013 vote so that any vacancy in the Senate could be immediately filled.

Asked whether he was concerned about there being a vacuum in the Senate, Brillantes said the Comelec already has a solution in mind but does not want to announce it until Santiago has categorically stated when she would leave.

Santiago, who has been named an ICC judge, earlier said she cannot occupy her new post yet until several serving ICC judges have cleared their pending cases.

These judges’ terms have expired, but they are required to dispose of the cases assigned to them or are on appeal, she explained.

The ruling Liberal Party has backed Drilon’s suggestion to elect 13 senators next year.

LP Secretary General Joseph Abaya earlier said the proposal was not partisan, and would solve the problem of being faced with an empty seat in the Senate for the next three years.

Comelec budget

Meanwhile, the Comelec’s 2013 budget breezed through plenary deliberations at the House yesterday, with only a few lawmakers asking questions of its sponsor concerning the allocations.

Brillantes said the preparations for the automated polls were even ahead of schedule. He noted that unlike in 2010, the Comelec was now handling all the bidding for the various services it would need.