Senate Minority Leader Alan Peter Cayetano described as a misstep Brillantes’ appointment as chair of the Commission on Elections (Comelec).

“It’s not a question of whether Brillantes is a good appointee or not. It’s a question of whether he’s the best man for the job,” Cayetano said Sunday in a phone interview.

The senator said he was puzzled by President Benigno Aquino III’s move, pointing out that the new poll chief had a reputation as an election specialist who wielded influence on the Comelec in the past.

“They could have put someone and everyone says, ‘Wow.’ Instead, they’ve put someone whose reputation was to pick up the phone and call the Comelec commissioner,” Cayetano said.

He said the Comelec was being placed in a situation where “its impartiality and fairness can be questioned.”

Even if Brillantes would inhibit himself from the 225 electoral protests he had handled before the Comelec, his partners in his law firm could always take over these cases, Cayetano said.

Cloud of doubt

“That means any decision he will make as chair will be under a cloud of doubt. Do we want Comelec to be placed in that situation? That’s what the Palace did,” the senator said.

Citing comments in the legal community, Cayetano said Brillantes represented a phase in the country’s elections history where “results changed from the precinct level to the municipal level to the provincial level, and even at the Comelec.”

“He and a lot of other election specialists used to lord it over the Comelec. But all this changed during the automation. And now you put one of them in charge. How will it affect automation?” he said.

Cayetano said he had heard that politicians close to Malacañang had lobbied to get a Comelec chair that “is pragmatic rather than idealist”—someone easier to deal with in the run-up to the 2013 elections.

“He was a beneficiary of circumstance. They wanted a more practical chair. So he fits the job,” he said.

Ampatuan lawyer

Cayetano, who is also the minority leader in the Commission on Appointments, said Brillantes should expect tough grilling on the string of electoral cases he had handled and clients he had represented.

He said Brillantes should be open to questions such as the extent of services he gave to the Ampatuan clan accused of masterminding the November 2009 massacre of 57 people in Maguindanao.

“He’s downplaying that he’s the lawyer of the Ampatuans. They’re not ordinary citizens. When the authorities raided their homes, they found ballot boxes. You want the lawyer of the people who manipulated the lives of the people in that province to be the head of the Comelec?” the senator said.

“What kind of clients were they? How were you involved? Did you point the way on how to get these ballot boxes?” he said.

Missed opportunity

Cayetano, the chair of the Senate ethics committee, said this was a “missed opportunity” for Mr. Aquino who appointed Brillantes and ignored civil society groups pushing for electoral reforms.

“None of the groups involved in electoral reforms ever since endorsed him. This is going backward, instead of forward. This is a step in the wrong direction,” he said.

But Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile and Sen. Loren Legarda, who hired Brillantes in her protest against then Vice President Noli de Castro in the 2004 elections vouched for his qualifications.

“Better to have a lawyer skilled in election law and I know Attorney Brillantes. He’s a very capable and upright lawyer,” Enrile said in a radio interview.

He advised critics to look at the credentials of Brillantes instead of the fact that he handled electoral cases, from which he could inhibit himself.

Legarda agreed: “His experience will be a big help in the Comelec,” she said

Best suited

Romulo Macalintal, a veteran election lawyer who was on the short list of nominees for Comelec chair, congratulated Brillantes in a statement, saying he was “best suited for the position at this time.”

Macalintal said he would send Brillantes proposals for electoral reforms that he would have submitted to the President had he been appointed to the position.

Among these are the speedy resolution of election cases “by dismissing all apparently baseless cases,” advance elections in “hotly contested areas,” recommend to Congress to scrap recall law, and non-appointment of elective officials to Cabinet posts during their terms.

Unlock secrets

The Workers’ Electoral Watch (WE Watch) said the new chair should unlock the “secrets” of the 2010 polls and hold those accountable for the troubles during the democratic exercise.

“As a first step, the next Comelec chair must order the release of crucial election documents, including the source code, to once and for all settle lingering suspicions and questions regarding the conduct of the automated polls last year,” said Anna Leah Escresa-Colina, WE Watch project manager.

Justice Secretary Leila de Lima, who was present during Brillantes’ swearing in, said the new chair would help Comelec “redeem its lost credibility.”

Fr. Eddie Panlilio, the former governor of Pampanga, described Brillantes as “a very experienced election lawyer with a sterling track record. He has volunteered his services for Pampanga’s crusade for good governance and ethical leadership since 2007.”

TJ Burgonio, Phil. Daily Inquirer