Pasaway

Now that he is also doing what he denounced before against his immediate predecessor at Malacañang, will President Benigno “Noy” Aquino III soon be eating humble pie?

Impeached Supreme Court (SC) chief justice Renato  Corona earned P-Noy’s ire because he was a “midnight appointee” of former President  Gloria  Macapagal-Arroyo. Corona was appointed as Chief Justice on May 12, 2010, two days after P-Noy won the presidential elections.

Corona’s appointment was questioned as a violation of the constitutional provision that prohibits such appointments two months before elections. The 15-man High Tribunal — mostly Arroyo appointees — however upheld the validity of Corona’s appointment.

Unlike Arroyo, the battery of Palace spokesmen may argue that the upcoming new presidential appointees cannot be considered as “midnight” appointments since P-Noy still has three more years in office. That’s true.

But the essence and spirit of the law being questioned here pertain to the same situation: the timing of presidential appointments being issued, in this case, during the prescribed election campaign period ban.

P-Noy would not have this issue now thrown back at him had his so-called Palace talent search committee been diligent in vetting presidential appointees. He found himself in this situation after his two appointees to the seven-man Commission on Elections (Comelec) were forced to decline their respective appointments.

P-Noy’s original appointees, Bernadette Sardillio and Macabangkit Lanto, both declined the appointment. Sardillio cited as reason health and family concerns while Lanto cited a previous election fraud case against him when he ran for a congressional post in Lanao del Norte in 1992. They were supposed to fill the posts vacated last February by commissioners Rene Sarmiento and Armando Velasco.

Obviously smarting from the embarrassing incident of his nomination being declined after he announced their appointments, President Aquino vowed to be more careful this time in choosing the next Comelec commissioners. “We’re exercising even more due diligence,” the Chief Executive said. He disclosed a new list is being drawn and that the nominees were being vetted even more stringently. Well, good luck!

The latest statement from the Palace search committee is that it is reportedly still in the process of preparing a longer list of nominees. Malacañang cited appointments of President Aquino made beyond the March 29 ban are legal and valid. Some in the latest batch of presidential appointees reportedly included new judges and justices to fill vacancies also in the judiciary.

Comelec Chairman Sixto Brillantes posed no objections to P-Noy’s making the appointments despite the election ban. Aside from Brillantes, the Comelec is composed of commissioners Lucenito Tagle, Christian Robert Lim, Elias Yusuf, and newly appointed commissioner Grace Padaca.

Despite working with less two commissioners, Brillantes kept giving public assurances the poll body remains on track with preparations for the May 13 midterms elections. That is generally speaking about the timetable that Comelec had earlier set to ensure that the country’s next exercise of automated elections will proceed as scheduled.

Brillantes in fact announced on radio yesterday he and his fellow Comelec commissioners are all going abroad. This, he said, is also part of Comelec preparations for the elections, specifically for “absentee voting” for overseas Filipino workers (OFWs). The Comelec has set for April 13 to May 13 the holding of “absentee voting” in various parts of the world where there are large OFW communities. 

Padaca already left last Monday for Abu Dhabi. Lim left yesterday for Hong Kong. Yusuf is leaving today for Saudi Arabia. Tagle is leaving this Friday also for Abu Dhabi. Brillantes is leaving for Singapore on Sunday. Who’s left to mind the store?

And while the cat is away, the mouse plays. Back here in the Philippines, how can Brillantes match his words with the realities happening on the ground in terms of Comelec’s strictly enforcing the campaign rules and regulations? In particular, certain national and local candidates have been blatantly violating the rules on campaign posters and tarpaulins. These things are happening while Brillantes and his fellow Comelec commissioners are still here.

Brillantes himself conceded Comelec has not done enough to prosecute violators of campaign rules. Halfway through the official campaign period for national candidates, the Comelec law department has reportedly sent out 40 notices to certain senatorial candidates and 88 notices to party-list groups for their illegal campaign materials. None has so far been disciplined by the Comelec.

Worse is the wanton disregard of Comelec campaign rules by local candidates whose illegal posters are very visibly posted all over Metro Manila — on electric posts, trees, public and private walls at every nook and cranny. Pasaway!

Brillantes has asked the Comelec law department to fast track the disposition of cases. So far, only LPGMA, Kabataan and Piston have been charged for poster violations. The Comelec chief has instructed local election officers nationwide to start sending notices to candidates who put up illegal posters before the start of the official campaign period for local officials to remove them or suffer the consequences.

Candidates can always claim that it’s their respective supporters who put up these illegal posters. Brillantes, however, warned the Comelec would no longer accept this alibi if candidates fail to remove them three days after they get the Comelec notices of violations.

To make up for lack of manpower that has slowed down their crackdown against illegal campaign posters, Brillantes said the Comelec may deputize the Armed Forces of the Philippines and the Philippine National Police to monitor violations of campaign rules. How I wish they would also arrest candidates who cause traffic jams for their campaign rallies and charge them with economic sabotage!

If the campaign and elections laws are strictly applied, the government must build a new prison facility to put all these “pasaway” behind bars. But that’s an exaggeration and wishful thinking.