’Twas emotions, ‘tampo,’ says Brillantes

Comelec chairman Sixto Brillantes Jr.: ‘Tampo’. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines—Commission on Elections chairman Sixto Brillantes Jr. said Monday his threat to resign was caused by a burst of “emotions” and “tampo” (sulking).

“I have no reason to resign, really. I only said what I said because of emotions, frustration and a little bit of sulking (kaunting tampo),” he said on Monday.

The silver-haired former election lawyer said he had decided to forego his plan to vacate his post after speaking with his family and close friends over the weekend.

Brillantes threatened to quit last week after publicly expressing his disgust with the Supreme Court’s rulings in connection with the party-list accreditation and airtime limits of candidates. He appeared calm as he led the command conference of the Comelec, the Armed Forces and the Philippine National Police at Camp Crame on Monday.

Speaking with reporters after the meeting, the Comelec chairman said he had also spoken with Executive Secretary Paquito Ochoa to inform him that he would no longer be seeking an audience with President Aquino contrary to his earlier statements to the media.

Presidential spokesman Edwin Lacierda denied Malacañang exerted pressure on the poll chief to stay at his post. He said he wasn’t aware of any meeting—or even phone conversation—between the President and Brillantes over the weekend.

“We have no information if they spoke. But certainly Chairman Brillantes heard the President speak when he was interviewed by media. Maybe he considered the words spoken by the President,” said Lacierda in a briefing at the Palace.

‘No backing down’

In a statement released by Malacañang, the Aquino administration commended Brillantes for his decision “to stay in his post during this crucial election period.”

Last Friday, Aquino said in an interview that he would ask Brillantes to stay on because the country needed a Comelec chair at this crucial time.

Brillantes denied that he wanted to resign to get away from the problems the Comelec may face in the midterm polls.

“I will not abandon the Filipino people at this stage. I will not back down from the problems. I can say now, and I’m almost absolutely sure, that the elections in May will be a successful one,” he said.

Brillantes said he spoke on the phone with Vice President Jejomar Binay, one of the leaders of the opposition United Nationalist Alliance, who called him up Sunday night to say, “Don’t leave us.”

“I told him I will not abandon the people. Nobody is leaving,” Brillantes said.

But whether or not he would stay until the end of his term in February 2015, Brillantes said he needed to do more thinking.

“My three daughters said I should stay to oversee the elections and then resign. Others told me to finish my term. But it does not really matter, my decision for now is to finish the elections,” he said.

If the automated midterm balloting goes well, he said he would take a short vacation and rethink whether he should finish his term.

“When the elections are done and successful, I can take a break. Resigning might not be necessary but I will have to seriously think about it,” he said.

As to what made him decide to stay, Brillantes cited three reasons: His three daughters urged him not to quit, at least until after the elections; both Aquino and Binay appealed to him not to quit since the elections are less than a month away; and the poll chief said he did not want to give his critics, who want him out, the satisfaction of him voluntarily quitting.

His adverse feelings about the high court ruling were gone and he was ready to go on with his duties as the head of the Comelec, which include ensuring the smooth assumption of office of the two newly appointed commissioners, Brillantes said.