Collegiality or rivalry?

Outnumbered six to one, Commission on Elections (Comelec) Chairman Andres Bautista found himself at the receiving end of a 17-point memorandum of gripes from his fellow commissioners. All six signed the memorandum on June 3 which listed their criticisms against Bautista as the basis of his alleged “failure of leadership” of the poll body.

As the chairman of the seven-man poll body, the alleged “failure of leadership” by Bautista will find no basis if we judge it from the outcome of the recently concluded May 9 presidential elections. The arguments raised by the Comelec commissioners against their Chairman will get them all into trouble if their allegations were indeed valid and true.

But as it is today, the country is now leading into the penultimate process in the peaceful change of leadership at the highest office of the land. The transition comes into full circle in the inaugural ceremonies at Malacañang Palace tomorrow.

In fact, Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte emerged as the unquestioned winner among the five candidates who ran in the last presidential race. Duterte becomes the country’s 16th President to succeed outgoing President Benigno “Noy” Aquino III.

On the same day, former Camarines Sur Congresswoman Leni Robredo will be sworn in as the new Vice President of the country and takes over from outgoing Vice President Jejomar Binay.

In the case though of the Vice President, losing candidate Sen. Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. is filing today before the Presidential Electoral Tribunal (PET) his formal complaint to contest the margin of victory of Robredo against him in the last election. The PET protest does not, however, stops Robredo from assuming office pending resolution.

For trivia’s sake, none of the two protests of VP race in recent times prospered at the PET. Sen. Loren Legarda filed a protest after losing the VP race to former Sen. Noli De Castro during the May 2004 elections. Former Interior Secretary Mar Roxas II filed a protest after he lost the VP race to Binay in the May 2010 elections.

But both President-elect Duterte and Vice President-elect Robredo will officially assume their respective jobs starting at noon tomorrow. Thanks to a great deal to the Comelec for the fast, honest and credible conduct of the presidential elections.

All of the seven Comelec commissioners and the entire staff of the poll body under the stewardship of Bautista as chairman supposedly worked together to ensure the successful conduct of clean and credible elections. And the fruits of their labor and hard work have paid off with tomorrow’s traditional inaugural rites.

This is not to mention the 12 new Senators and the more than 200 members of the House of Representatives, Governors, Mayors and the rest of the 18,083 elective posts contested in the latest synchronized elections held at the same time.

Ironically, the internal strife of the commissioners arose more than a month after they at the Comelec worked so hard to achieve their goal.

The in-fighting at the Comelec between Bautista and the six commissioners – all appointees of outgoing President Aquino – is very telling. It behooves all of them to explain to the public what’s this fuss all about?

As members of a constitutional body, a Comelec commissioner can only be removed from office either by impeachment, resignation, incapacity, or death. So mere memorandum of complaints signed by the six Comelec commissioners has no effect whatsoever.

The internal memorandum was sent to Bautista only last June 15. It was clandestinely leaked to the media even before Bautista can sit down with the six commissioners to thresh out their differences internally and quietly among themselves.

Bautista noted with suspicion the timing was suspect because it came out in media while he was out of the country. He left for a weekend vacation with his son last June 23, or on the eve of official holiday for Araw ng Maynila.

The vacation of Bautista itself was also questioned by the six commissioners as in violation of their own Comelec rules. As the most senior Comelec commissioner Christian Robert Lim cited travel authority requires an en banc approval and not by the chairman alone who signed the travel authority in his behalf.

As constitutional officers, all of them enjoy a fixed term of seven years. Being the first appointee of President Aquino in the poll body, Lim enjoys seniority. But Bautista was appointed as the chairman, or head of the Comelec on Sept. 22, 2015.

The Comelec holds their regular en banc (entire seven-man poll body) session every Tuesdays and Thursdays. So yesterday, the squabbling Comelec commissioners finally conducted their en banc with Bautista presiding.

Briefing media after their closed-door meeting, a hoarse-voiced Bautista disclosed they had “cordial and productive” meeting. He, however, refused to elaborate if their en banc yesterday became a grudge session.

Bautista, however, announced the Comelec preparations for the holding of the barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan (SK) elections this October. Incidentally, Bautista was also taken to task by his fellow commissioners for speaking off the cuff the idea of postponing the SK and barangay elections.

The Comelec chairman raised this possible postponement, citing “election fatigue” as it comes a few months after the May 9 national and local elections. The Comelec chairman echoed this proposal as a measure for the incoming 17th Congress to consider. This was in response to a question when he appeared as guest of the Kapihan sa Manila Bay last May 25.

In media interviews, fellow Commissioner Rowena Guazon said Bautista has only himself to blame for repeatedly postponing their en banc session to apparently avoid confronting the issues head on. Guanzon insisted the commissioners wanted these issues they raised against Bautista discussed in an executive session of the en banc.

The most vocal critic of Bautista, Guanzon reminded Bautista that Comelec is a collegial body and not any one of the seven commissioners can act on his or her own without the imprimatur of the entire body. Is it collegiality or rivalry?

Or this hyped up conflict at the Comelec is just smokescreen on the unanswered questions on the more substantive questions that cropped up in the last automated elections?

Whatever it is, the disparate views within the seven-man poll body should be healthy sign for our country’s democracy.