Enrile blocks confirmation of Comelec chief

In one of his first acts since returning to the Senate, Sen. Juan Ponce Enrile on Wednesday all but blocked the confirmation of Commission on Elections (Comelec) Chair Andres Bautista over an issue involving the elections of 2013, before Bautista even joined the Comelec.

Enrile asked for the deferment of the confirmation of Bautista and Commissioner Sheriff Abas, pending Bautista’s submission of a written report on the Comelec’s supposed failure to transmit the results from 18,486 precincts during the 2013 elections.

Bautista admitted to feeling disappointed about failing to get the confirmation of the congressional Commission on Appointments on Wednesday over the issue of the alleged missing results involving 12 million votes in 2013, which happened during the incumbency of Bautista’s predecessor, Sixto Brillantes. Bautista was appointed to the post last May.

“I feel disappointed but I know this is part of the process of confirmation … but the work continues to ensure credible elections in 2016,” Bautista told a press briefing.

Bautista simply smiled when he was asked if it was fair for Enrile to bring up the issue.

He said he would submit the information being asked for.

He explained that the Comelec’s supposed failure to transmit the election results from more than 18,400 precincts in the May 2013 elections “[had] something to do with the transmission.”

“If you will remember in 2013 the rate of transmission was 77 percent, which was below the rate of transmission in 2010. The explanation given was, ‘Yes, it was 77 but the other results were manually uploaded.’ I think that is contained in the report. We admit that there were deficiencies during the 2010 and 2013 polls, that’s why we’re looking for ways to address these problems,” he said.

Bautista said he did not think anyone, whether himself or Abas, was indispensable in the coming elections.

“I think what is indispensable and what should be overemphasized is the need for credible elections. That is what we should all watch out for—to ensure credible elections in 2016,” he stressed.

Aside from Enrile, those opposing Bautista’s confirmation were Lin Ilusorio Bildner and Jose Ma. Ozamiz who accused Bautista of intervening in the transactions of Philippine Communications Satellite Corp. (Philcomsat) when he was chair of the Presidential Commission on Good Government (PCGG).

According to Bautista, the main acts being complained about the PCGG happened between 2003 and 2007, which was way before his assumption as PCGG chair in September 2010.

“I was not part of the PCGG during the relevant times complained of by Bildner and Ozamiz. All that we have done from the moment that we assumed office was to faithfully discharge our mandate,” he said.

Philcomsat is a holdings corporation that was used to control the rights to satellite transmissions during the rule of the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos. The Philcomsat group is composed of three companies with interlocking ownership—Philcomsat, Philippine Holdings Corp. and Philippine Overseas Telecommunications Corp. (POTC).

The shares of POTC, the parent company, were sequestered in 1986 by the PCGG on allegations they had been acquired through ill-gotten wealth.

The Philcomsat group has been mired in a corporate dispute since 2002. Bildner, daughter of one of the Philcomsat founders, represents the interests of a large group of shareholders. Enrile is a founding shareholder of Philcomsat.

Bautista explained that to represent the government’s 35-percent stake in Philcomsat, he and Karen Singson, then chief privatization officer of the Privatization and Management Office, were nominated to the board of the POTC, Philcomsat’s parent company.

“We were then elected to the board with the knowledge and assistance of the current management. However, I was never invited to and hence has never attended even one board meeting. So I am completely surprised by Mr. Ozamiz’ assertion that during the Aquino administration, ‘PCGG intruded into and actively interfered in the business affairs of Philcomsat.’ This is simply a complete falsehood,” he stressed.

“Bildner filed a case in 2012 against me and now acting PCGG Chair Richard Amurao, alleging similar acts contained in the opposition with the Office of the Ombudsman. This case was dismissed by the Ombudsman in a decision dated Sept. 24, 2013,” Bautista said.—Tina G. Santos