Brillantes, 71, said the President signed his appointment paper on Saturday night, and that the official announcement would be made by the Palace on Sunday morning.

“It’s done,” he told the Inquirer by phone shortly after he met with the President at Bahay Pangarap, the latter’s residence. “So this is how it feels. I think I’m coming down with something.”

Brillantes said he would officially begin work on Monday.

Earlier on Saturday, Jose Melo quit the Comelec chairmanship to make way for the appointment of his replacement before Congress resumes sessions on Monday.

And with his fellow election lawyer Romulo Macalintal withdrawing from contention, Brillantes appeared to have the inside track to the post despite the fact that lawyer Carlos Medina, a member of the Philippine Truth Commission, was also in the running.

Macalintal, the election lawyer of then President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, confirmed that in a letter sent on Friday afternoon, he asked Mr. Aquino “to exclude me from the list of candidates for the next Comelec chairman.”

He said he wrote the letter in order to give Mr. Aquino “ample time to select from among the list of names being considered.”

Best choice

“But I believe Attorney Sixto Brillantes would be the best choice for the next Comelec chairman,” he said.

He added that he had offered his services to Mr. Aquino in another capacity, perhaps as a consultant on electoral issues even at “P1 per year.”

Macalintal said he told the President: “I regret that after deep consultation with my family, we are unanimous in our consensus that it is not appropriate for me to do this job at the Comelec.”

He said he also proposed to Mr. Aquino that the counting machines used in the May 2010 presidential election no longer be used in the next polls.

Instead, he said, the Comelec should use the stored P1.3-billion worth of machines supplied by Megapacific Consortium.

Speaking with the Inquirer earlier on Saturday, Brillantes said he had been told of Macalintal’s decision to withdraw.

Asked how it would affect his chances, he said: “I don’t know. But if [the Comelec chairmanship] would be offered, who am I to refuse it?”

Brillantes said what was important was for the President to name Melo’s replacement by on Sunday, the eve of the resumption of sessions in Congress.

He said the replacement could not assume the post if the appointment would be made while Congress was in session. If the appointment were made then, the replacement would just be considered nominated and would have to be confirmed by the Commission on Appointments.

Brillantes also said the new Comelec chair could not be appointed by Sunday, and therefore evade the laborious confirmation process, unless Melo resigned before Monday.

“You cannot make an appointment if there is no vacancy,” he said. “If Melo doesn’t advance his retirement, nobody can be appointed.”

Mr. Aquino interviewed Macalintal and Brillantes in Malacañang on January 10 and asked them about their proposed plans for the Comelec in case they were appointed.

Brillantes submitted a written proposal two days later; Macalintal was to have done so on Friday. Instead, he sent a letter informing the President that he was begging off from a possible appointment.

Ad interim appointment

Brillantes and Macalintal are two of the most prominent election lawyers in the country, with a combined experience of at least 40 years.

In a statement, Melo said he resigned on Saturday instead of on January 31 after having been “informed” that Mr. Aquino wanted to immediately announce his replacement on an ad interim or temporary capacity.

“I understand that it is the President’s desire to name my successor to immediately assume office in an ad interim capacity. And consistent with my standing offer to step down, I am advancing the date of my resignation as chairman,” he said.

Melo sent a letter to Executive Secretary Paquito Ochoa on Friday informing Malacañang of his decision to retire earlier than scheduled.

“I am stepping down confident in the knowledge that the country’s first automated elections held last May 10 had led to one of the most credible and unquestionable poll results in the nation’s history,” he said, adding:

“But at the same time, I am also cognizant of the fact that the next chairman faces the challenge of sustaining the gains of the past years and instituting further reforms to safeguard the sanctity of our country’s electoral process.

“Let me end my term by expressing my deepest gratitude for having been given the opportunity to contribute my humble share in the pursuit of our avowed dream to have clean, honest and fair elections stand as the vanguard of our democracy.”

Malacañang accepted Melo’s resignation Saturday afternoon.

Comelec spokesperson James Jimenez said Commissioner Rene Sarmiento, being the most senior, would serve as the officer in charge of the poll body while the Palace reviewed its choices.

Like Brillantes, Jimenez said Malacañang might name Melo’s successor either late Saturday or Sunday so that the Comelec would have a new chief before Congress resumes sessions on Monday.

He said appointees named while Congress was on recess could immediately take office and those named while Congress was in session could not take their post until confirmed by the Commission on Appointments.

Distinguished record

Asked about Melo’s resignation, Ochoa said in a text message: “We thank Justice Melo for his close to three years of service as Comelec chair.

“He leaves behind a distinguished record of public service, the highlight of which was the successful staging of the first fully automated national elections, widely acknowledged as the country’s cleanest elections in recent history.”

Melo submitted a resignation letter as early as November 2010. But his resignation was to have taken effect on January 31, not January 15.

His term as chair of the Comelec would have lasted until 2015. He would have overseen the 2013 mid-term elections had he stayed on.

Christian Esguerra & Philip Tubeza, Phil. Daily Inquirer