Senator Angara: SC rebuff of Comelec not directed at Brillantes

MANILA, Philippines – Senator Edgardo Angara   on Thursday  saw no reason for Commission  on Elections chairman  Sixto Brillantes Jr.’s resignation, saying that the adverse decisions  by the Supreme Court  against  the poll body was not  “directed personally” at him.

“I think he should not resign. I think chairman Brillantes is probably one of the most brilliant lawyers in this country, not just in elections but in other matters. He’s been a practitioner long enough to be turned off by a rebuff from the Supreme Court if he considers a reversal a rebuff,”  Angara said during a regular forum in the Senate.

He was reacting to Brillantes’ public pronouncement that he was thinking of resigning after a series of decisions by the Supreme Court against the poll body, the latest of which was the temporary restraining order on the airtime limit being imposed on political advertisements on radio and television.

But the SC’s decisions, Angara said, should not be “enough reason” for Brillantes’ resignation.

“That should not be sufficient reason for him to quit his job. He’s doing an excellent job,” said the senator.

After all, Angara said, the decision of the court was not “directed personally” at Brillantes.

“And I think you can express your disagreement or disappointment over the Supreme Court decision short of resigning and creating an entirely new set of problems probably greater than  his  feeling of being rebuffed,”  the senator said.

“He should not take it personally. As a long standing practitioner and a good one at that, these things, he should it in stride and he’s no stranger to reversals,” he added.