ABALOS: COMELEC CAN TACKLE FPJ CASE;  COMELEC OFFICIALS FACE TEST GRAFT RAPS

MANILA, January 22, 2004 (STAR) By Mike Frialde - The Commission on Elections has the authority to resolve the controversy over the citizenship of actor and presidential aspirant Fernando Poe Jr., Comelec Chairman Benjamin Abalos said yesterday.

At the regular Ciudad Fernandina media forum in Greenhills, San Juan, Abalos said the Comelec’s jurisdiction over the issue should no longer be questioned as all the parties involved have already submitted to the poll body’s authority. "The parties themselves have submitted to the jurisdiction of the Comelec. This is no longer an issue. This is already academic. FPJ, through counsel, and the petitioner" have both submitted to the Comelec’s jurisdiction, Abalos said. Earlier, Sen. Aquilino Pimentel Jr., a re-electionist senator running under Poe’s slate, questioned the Comelec’s jurisdiction over the case, saying the proper forum is the Supreme Court.

Abalos also said the Comelec will not be intimidated into making a favorable ruling on a petition questioning Poe’s citizenship, following threats from his supporters. The Comelec, which is conducting hearings on the petition filed by lawyer Victorino Fornier, will rule on the petition the way they see it, Abalos said. "Of course there is pressure but rest assured it would not at all affect us," Abalos said in a statement. "We will decide on what we believe is right, irrespective of the consequence." Poe supporters have threatened to stage protests if the movie star and political neophyte is disqualified from the upcoming presidential race.

Abalos said Poe may seek reconsideration before the Comelec en banc in case of an adverse ruling and — if Poe again loses — appeal to the Supreme Court. The Comelec’s first division, headed by Commissioner Rufino Javier, may make a ruling as early as tomorrow or by next week, Abalos said. If election officials are unable to come up with a decision before Feb. 10 — the start of the campaign period, Poe may continue to campaign — Abalos said. Pimentel and some other lawmakers said the Supreme Court should assume jurisdiction over the petition, citing a provision in the Constitution stating that the high tribunal, "sitting en banc, shall be the sole judge of all contests relating to the election, returns and qualifications of the president or vice president, and may promulgate its rules for the purpose." Another candidate may not run in Poe’s stead if he is disqualified, a Comelec official said.

Fornier claims Poe is not qualified to run for president because he is not a natural-born Filipino citizen or even a Filipino citizen at all. Poe’s parents were foreign citizens, Fornier says. He presented Poe’s birth certificate and the marriage certificate of Poe’s parents as proof. Fornier said Poe should take the American citizenship of his mother because he was born out of wedlock. He said Poe’s father was still married to one Paulita Gomez. Ricardo Manapat, the head of the National Archives where the documents are kept, vouched for the authenticity of the documents during a Comelec hearing Monday on the petition.

Poe’s camp, however, accused Manapat of fabricating the documents upon orders from Malacañang. The Senate began an inquiry yesterday on the allegation. The Arroyo administration denied opposition allegations that it was orchestrating the disqualification petition against Poe. Poe is considered as President Arroyo’s major stumbling block in her bid for a full six-year term because of his movie icon popularity. Mrs. Arroyo replaced Joseph Estrada, a close friend of Poe and a former movie actor who was ousted by a popular uprising in January 2001 some 30 months into his term. — With reports from Evelyn Macairan, Jose Aravilla

Comelec officials face test graft raps By Delon Porcalla The Philippine Star 01/22/2004

Sen. Aquilino Pimentel Jr. filed yesterday a test graft case before the Ombudsman challenging the contention that members of the Commission on Elections (Comelec) cannot be criminally charged prior to their impeachment by Congress.

Arguing that Comelec members are not immune from suit, Pimentel filed the corruption charges against Comelec Chairman Benjamin Abalos and Commissioners Luzviminda Tancangco, Ralph Lantion, Mehol Sadain, Resurreccion Borra, Rufino Javier and Florentino Tuason. The graft charges stemmed from the SC ruling that junked the contract the Comelec awarded to a private consortium for the purchase of automated counting machines. But Abalos dismissed the charges as a ploy to win votes in the May 10 congressional elections. Pimentel is running for re-election under the opposition Koalisyon ng Nagkakaisang Pilipino (KNP). "That is nothing," Abalos said, citing the opinion of Chief Justice Hilario Davide Jr., who held that the Comelec’s contract with the Mega Pacific Consortium was above board. "What again could be his purpose? It is so easy to ride on issues," he added.

But citing the SC ruling that admonished the Comelec for irregularities in the bidding, Pimentel challenged the legal stand that Comelec commissioners could not be criminally charged because they are impeachable constitutional officers. Pimentel held that although Comelec commissioners are constitutional officers, they are not immune from suit, unlike the President, Vice President, justices of the Supreme Court and members of Congress. "It is my position that the respondent commissioners may be validly sued criminally even as they are not being impeached because there is nothing in the Constitution that suggests that they should first be impeached before they may be held liable for violating the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act," he said. "They are not immune (from) criminal prosecution even before impeachment because they are not in the same category as the president or members of the SC or of Congress," Pimentel contended. He cited American jurisprudence which holds that impeachable officials are not immune to criminal charges while in office. "If the commissioners violate the law, they may be made immediately accountable because they are not above the law," he said.

Pimentel further argued that waiting until after the Comelec commissioners’ impeachment "will frustrate the ends of justice because it would impose a condition that is impossible to accomplish," especially since Congress only has 20 session days left before it adjourns sine die. The senator also asked Ombudsman Simeon Marcelo not to allow the Comelec commissioners to retire or resign as provided by Republic Act No. 3019, or the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act. Tancangco and Lantion are set to retire successively early next month. Allowing impeachable officials to retire or resign, according to Pimentel, "would make a mockery of the provisions of the Constitution and the laws that make public officials accountable (for) their actuations while in office."

Pimentel’s suit contradicted the Ombudsman’s announced position that only non-impeachable Comelec officials involved in the automated counting machine contract are criminally and administratively liable. The position was announced by Ombudsman spokesman Ernesto Nocos, who said that the Supreme Court ruling served as a guide for Ombudsman probers, headed by lawyer Melchor Arthur Carandang, who were given one month to investigate the contract. Meanwhile, Vice President Teofisto Guingona urged Malacañang to make public the list of candidates for the two seats to be vacated by Tancangco and Lantion.

"We are certain that Malacañang already has a short list of individuals being considered to fill the upcoming vacancies. We urge that the names of the prospective appointees be made public now so we can be assured that they are non-partisan and fully qualified to serve in the constitutional body," Guingona said. — With Sheila Crisostomo, Jess Diaz, Jose Rodel Clapano, Jose Aravilla