Former poll exec urged: Don’t be ‘too publicity conscious’

By: Aries Joseph Hegina - 9 years ago

Commission on Elections chair Sixto Brillantes Jr. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

The former chairman of the Commission on Elections (Comelec) hit a former commissioner of the poll body for supposedly being “too publicity conscious” in exposing the missteps of the current leadership.

Sixto Brillantes Jr. defended the Comelec, currently led by Chairman Andres Bautista, against the criticisms hurled by former commissioner Gregorio Larrazabal.

Brillantes, in a statement posted on his Twitter account on Friday, said that instead of openly hitting Comelec on social media, Larrazabal should meet with incumbent Comelec officials to discuss solutions.

“The better alternative is for former Comelec officials to meet with the incumbents and assist in solving problems and deficiencies instead of picturing oneself as seemingly knowledgeable of everything on election matters,” he said.

The former poll body chief, who led the Comelec during the 2013 automated midterm elections, said that “defects and deficiencies” will always be present in administering an election.

“Administering and managing a total electoral process, specially an automated system, is not as simple as they appear. Defects and deficiencies will always be encountered and non-compliance of some mandatory requirements of the law will not render the entire process null and void,” he said.

He also answered Larrazabal’s criticisms against the Comelec on various issues, such as mall voting, replacement ballot, and other supposed mandatory requirements point by point.

READ: Comelec: Mall voting won’t push through

In sum, Brillantes said that “mandatory requirements can be treated directory after.”

“There can be no perfect and 100 percent full compliance with all the mandatory requirements of all electoral laws,” he said.

Larrazabal was the chairman of the Comelec’s steering committee from 2009 to 2011 which oversaw the country’s first automated elections in 2010. RAM/rga