Thursday, November 15, 2007 Palace opens to public selection for next election chief
MALACAÑANG has opened applications and nominations for the next chairman of the Commission on Elections (Comelec) to the general public to make the field of choice “as wide as possible,” Press Secretary Ignacio Bunye said.
Bunye, who is also the Presidential spokesman, said while the Constitution gave the President the power to appoint, she opted to seek the opinion of the public in general before making a choice.
“In a departure from practice, the public at large will be invited to apply and nominate candidates for the new chairman of the Comelec. She has opened the field of choice as wide as possible,” he said.
Bunye said the invitations and procedures for the applications and nominations would be published in the major dailies soon although a five-man search committee chaired by Bernardino Abes had already been formed by President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo to help her trim down the choices and eventually help her in making her choice.
The search committee should submit a shortlist of five to seven nominees to the President on or before January 15.
Former finance secretary and search committee member Vicente Jayme said a set of criteria is now being prepared which should conform to the functions and objectives of the Comelec.
The search committee, which initially agreed that knowledge in computer technology, although desirable, is not necessary, has invited former election commissioners to their next meeting to help them draft the criteria.
The National Movement for Free Elections (Namfrel), in a proposal to the President, said the nominee, whether for chairman or future commissioners of the Comelec, should be: a lawyer with at least 10 years of experience, possess adequate skills in management, and able to lead and be a good role model for the staff while the Center for Anti-Graft and Corruption Prevention in its recommendation said the nominee should not be a member or affiliated with any political party, and with at least seven years of “untainted full work experience as a Comelec official” and eight years in the judiciary.
The position of election chairman was vacated by Benjamin Abalos Sr. who resigned last month following controversies linking him to an alleged bribery involving the cancelled National Broadband Network deal with China’s ZTE Corp.
Abalos’ term as Comelec chief was supposed to end in February 2008, along with the terms of Commissioners Ressureccion Borra and Florentino Tuason. (JMR/Sunnex)
