PCGG chief new Comelec chair

ON BOARD Presidential Commission on Good Government chief Andres Bautista is the new Commission on Elections chair. ARNOLD ALMACEN

MANILA, Philippines–With the presidential balloting a year away and the automated voting system bedeviled by glitches, Andres Bautista has his work cut out for him.

Bautista was named by President Aquino on Monday chair of the Commission on Elections (Comelec), moving the former law dean to the poll agency from his post as chief of the Presidential Commission on Good Government (PCGG).

Aquino also named Rowena Guanzon, a former mayor of Cadiz City, and Sheriff Abas, legal division chief of the Civil Service Commission in Cotabato City, to the two other vacant commissioner posts in the Comelec, according to deputy presidential spokesperson Abigal Valte.

Vice President Jejomar Binay, who is seeking the presidency in 2016, welcomed Bautista’s appointment.

“He is a man known for his integrity and I am confident he will be able to meet the challenge of ensuring credible, honest, peaceful and orderly elections in 2016,” Binay said.

Henrietta de Villa, chair of the Parish Pastoral Council for Responsible Voting (PPCRV), said Bautista was a “very good choice” to head the Comelec, describing him as a “very good and capable man.”

As PCGG chair, the 51-year-old Bautista pursued government efforts to recover the alleged ill-gotten wealth of Ferdinand Marcos and his cronies following the ouster of the dictator in 1986.

“The President told me that really one of the legacies that he wishes to leave to the nation is a credible, honest and peaceful election in 2016. I will work with our commissioners in order to achieve that objective,” Bautista told reporters at the Comelec headquarters in Intramuros, Manila.

He said one of the first things he would do was to tackle issues surrounding the automated election system, which was facing a roadblock after the Supreme Court junked a P268-million “midnight deal” the Comelec had entered into with Smartmatic-TIM to refurbish the 81,000 precinct count optical scan (PCOS) machines.

Viable options

“I think what needs to be done immediately is to try and explore the viable options in respect of the elections in 2016 and to build a consensus within the commission and then with the stakeholders, including the legislative and executive branches of the government,” Bautista said.

Bautista takes over the poll body from Sixto Brillantes Jr., who retired in February.

The Comelec has yet to decide how to proceed with automated elections mandated by law if it abandons its original plan to reuse the PCOS machines. It had emphasized earlier that it was not willing to risk employing the machines for the balloting without them being refurbished.

Before the appointment of Bautista, the Comelec under acting Chair Christian Robert Lim was also looking at either holding another public bidding for the repair of the voting machines or to procure another type of machine, Optical Mark Reader unit.

“I think [ensuring clean and credible elections] is a big challenge … [but] I think our elections are a very important component of our democracy,” he said.

“I’ve always believed that if the soul is to the body, the same way that elections are to a democracy. It’s very important that we safeguard our electoral process,” he added.

No going back

De Villa said in a telephone interview that the automated election system was Bautista’s top priority.

“There is no going back to the old system because the law says the elections should be automated,” she pointed out.

She also added that the Comelec must also decide whether it would reuse the PCOS machines or if it would purchase a new technology.

“Because if the PCOS machines will be used for the 2016 elections, each machine should undergo thorough testing and if there will be a new technology, it should already be ironed out because it’s only one year before the elections,” she said.

In an interview with reporters, Guanzon said: “The Constitution says that the commissioner should be independent and impartial. I can assure you also especially of my integrity.”

Roxas’ hand

Navotas Rep. Toby Tiangco, interim president of Binay’s United Nationalist Alliance (UNA), previously raised concerns about Guanzon, noting her close association with Interior Secretary Mar Roxas, the potential Liberal Party standard-bearer next year.

“Little by little, the people of the Liberal Party and Mar Roxas are being positioned at the Comelec. What is worrying is the appointment of Guanzon, who receives orders directly from Roxas,” he said.

Tiangco said Guanzon, as COA commissioner, was “part of a conspiracy to pin down Binay using resurrected issues during his term as Makati City mayor,” citing the Makati Friendship Suite Project.

“Guanzon is very much part of Mar Roxas’ circle. It was Mar who endorsed her to the COA and the Supreme Court, but the Judicial and Bar Council and Commission on Appointments saw through the agenda of Guanzon. Again, we see Mar dipping his hands in the Comelec,” he said.–With reports from Jerry E. Esplanada, Christine O. Avendaño and DJ Yap

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