Arroyo camp hits Brillantes for prejudging case

Comelec Chairman Sixto Brillantes

The camp of former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo on Thursday accused Commission on Elections (Comelec) Chairman Sixto Brillantes of bias and said he should resign his post.

Inocencio Ferrer, a lawyer of Arroyo’s husband Jose Miguel Arroyo, said Brillantes’ remarks to reporters on Wednesday about the former first couple’s purported involvement in poll fraud showed his “bias, prejudgment and clear conflict of interest” as the lawyer of Arroyo’s opponent in the 2004 presidential election.

“But more serious is the fact that other members of the collegial body known as the Comelec have been preempted by Brillantes’ finding of the Arroyos’ guilt with his telegraphed ruling, wish, desire or intention of sending [them] to jail by Christmas 2011,” Ferrer said in a text message, adding:

“He should resign to protect the institution of the Comelec.”

Raul Lambino, Arroyo’s spokesperson on legal matters, also said Brillantes’ remarks would make a “moro-moro” (sham) of any inquiry into the purported election fraud.

Lambino accused Brillantes of bias and of finding probable cause against the Arroyos even when no investigation had been concluded.

“What else can we expect from the [joint panel of the justice department and the Comelec]? Can they go against the wishes of the chairman?” he said.

‘The court, not us’

Brillantes had told reporters that the joint panel’s inquiry into the alleged fraud in the 2004 and 2007 elections could be completed in December, raising the possibility that the Arroyos would be behind bars by Christmas.

On Thursday, he shrugged off Ferrer’s call for his resignation and criticism of prejudgment.

“What I said was, we will try to finish the investigation of the 2004 and 2007 elections by December, then we will file the cases in court. It is the court who will issue the warrant of arrest, not us,” Brillantes told reporters.

“If the court [issues an arrest warrant], they will be detained because electoral sabotage is nonbailable. It’s not us who will send them to jail, it’s the court,” he said.

But Ferrer said Brillantes should not make statements on the guilt of the Arroyos because the Comelec was duty-bound to hear cases involving election offenses.

“When Brillantes publicly announced that the Arroyos will spend Christmas in jail… [he] placed the integrity of the… Comelec under a cloud of doubt—that [it] can be used as a tool versus former opponents in the past or previous election controversies involving [his] clients,” Ferrer said.

According to Ferrer, Brillantes should act on cases with the cold neutrality of an impartial judge, but with his recent statements, he is disqualified from ruling on any case brought against the Arroyos.

“Brillantes must shield the Comelec as an institution against political pressure, even [that] coming from P-Noy [President Aquino] who appointed him,” Ferrer said.

‘Media war’

Lambino said the Aquino administration was dragging Arroyo and her husband through the muck whenever the President was beset with criticism for his poor performance.

He said that while there had been no formal charge against Arroyo, derogatory statements about her were being tossed around in the media.

“It’s more of a media war rather than a legal battle,” he said.

Lambino said Brillantes himself was violating legal procedures by making premature pronouncements.

“That is blatant and brazen disregard for the rule of law,” he added.

Ferrer pointed out that Brillantes was the lawyer of the late Fernando Poe Jr., Arroyo’s opponent in the 2004 presidential polls, as well as of the Ampatuans of Maguindanao, and should therefore have no role in any election-related complaint filed against Arroyo and her husband.

He said that in backing former Maguindanao Administrator Norie Unas as poll fraud witness, Brillantes insulted the administration candidates who won seats in the Senate in 2007 on their individual merits.

Ferrer said Brillantes also insulted the families of the victims of the 2009 Maguindanao massacre in backing Unas, who had been implicated in the planning of the killings.

Brillantes, however, said the joint panel still had to evaluate Unas’ sworn statement.

Following the process

The Comelec chairman, who served as lawyer of other opposition candidates in 2007, has inhibited from the joint panel’s investigation.

He had earlier said he might testify before the panel and provide documents to prove that cheating took place in the 2004 and 2007 polls.

Under an agreement, the Comelec’s law department will focus on electoral sabotage and the justice department, on nonelection offenses.

“We have to follow the process. There will be a preliminary investigation and after that, if we find probable cause, we will be filing in court,” Brillantes said.

He also said Unas’ statement could still be denied by Arroyo or former Maguindanao Governor Andal Ampatuan Sr. during the preliminary investigation.

Said Brillantes: “The only way to disprove Unas is for somebody to testify that what he said isn’t true. And the only one who can disprove it is Ms. Arroyo, because she is the one being tagged [as having ordered Ampatuan to commit fraud]. So she can deny that she said it. If she does, [the panel] will have to determine who is more credible between the two of them. That is, unless there are other witnesses who will show up supporting one or the other.”

‘We shall see’

Brillantes said Ampatuan could also testify in favor of either Unas or Arroyo:

“Nobody else heard their conversation. There were only the three of them there. He can corroborate [the account of] Unas or Ms. Arroyo. Either way, it depends who he wants to side with… Both are his friends.

“If he says Unas told the truth, Ms. Arroyo is in big trouble. If he says Ms. Arroyo told the truth, then Unas is a liar. We shall see.”

But Brillantes said he did not think Ampatuan would testify.

He also distanced himself from Maguindanao Governor Esmael Mangudadatu’s remarks on Wednesday about Unas’ doubtful credibility and purported involvement in the Maguindanao massacre.

“I don’t know about that,” Brillantes said. “We checked. Unas is not part of the massacre. In fact, he is not even an accused… The report I have is he resigned as provincial administrator two months before the massacre. He was already out of Maguindanao before the massacre. I don’t know if Governor Mangudadatu checked this.”