Bautista ponders commissioners’ call to go on leave
Commission on Elections (Comelec) commissioners banded together yesterday and called on Chairman Andres Bautista to take a leave of absence – or even quit.
In a statement, Comelec Commissioners Robert Lim, Al Parreño, Luie Tito Guia, Arthur Lim, Ma. Rowena Guanzon and Sheriff Abas said Bautista “can no longer effectively lead the commission,” in the light of recent “collateral issues” hounding him, including an endorsed impeachment case before Congress and allegations of ill-gotten wealth hurled by his estranged wife Patricia Cruz.
Bautista said the commissioners’ proposals “are options that I have been considering and praying over. When I decide, they will be the first to know.”
He told The STAR he had no prior knowledge of the commissioners’ preparation of the statement and lamented that it had to be issued in a press conference.
“Gusto namin na (We want) business as usual. With all the collateral issues we are distracted from the work we are doing in the first place,” Senior Commissioner Robert Lim said at a press conference yesterday.
“The grounds cited in the impeachment complaint as well as the accusations that have been hurled between the spouses are utterly serious and partake of serious possible criminal liability,” the commissioners’ statement read.
They stressed they were not pressuring Bautista to take a leave or resign, as any decision is ultimately his alone.
Lim said Bautista’s absence at the budget hearing on Wednesday at the House of Representatives, where the Comelec was threatened with a P1 budget for 2018, proved to be the final straw, Lim said.
Bautista said he had to skip the hearing as he had a prior appointment with his sons’ guidance counselors.
For Guanzon, Bautista should just resign. “It is best for him and the Comelec to resign so that he can (prepare) fully for his defense. Besides, since the first day I advised him to file a leave, he failed to attend two en banc meetings and the budget hearing. He cannot and does not give a hundred percent,” she added.
Lim said he understands Bautista’s putting his family first over his work but lamented the Comelec is taking the blows.
“What is at stake here is the interest of the commission and the public good, choices have to be made. I can only hope that the good chair will understand the action that we have taken,” he said.
“Walang (Nothing) personal. Iniisip lang naming ang kapakanan ng Comelec, mga kontrata at paghahanda ng lahat ng bagay na dapat tutukan ng chairman (What’s best for Comelec is what we have in mind – the contracts and all the preparations the chairman should focus on), not weighed down by the magnitude of the problems he is facing,” Lim added.
The elder Lim explained that their statement does not in any way presume guilt for Bautista.
“In our view, while due process of law will take its normal course, Chair Bautista’s defense will not be spirited but arduous, to say the least. He will need to devote all his time, energy and effort,” the statement read.
If Bautista does resign or take a leave, the commissioners would have to choose among themselves and designate a new chairman via majority vote.
“With or without the chairman, the commission will continue to function and operate. Work as usual,” Lim said.
“Advantage lang pag nawala si chairman, either resign or leave, wala na kaming tinatanaw na multo sa kanto na dapat isipin at pagkaabalahan. Concentration na lang ay trabaho (The advantage of not having the chairman anymore if he resigns or takes a leave is that we don’t have to be wary of a ghost at the corner. We can concentrate on the job),” Lim said.
Bautista’s resignation or taking a leave will not put into question the results of the 2016 elections, Lim explained.
House: Wife can’t be witness
At the House of Representatives, Majority Leader Rodolfo Fariñas said they will not allow Bautista’s wife Tish to take the witness stand in an impeachment process against him.
“She cannot testify because she is not a complainant,” Fariñas told reporters yesterday when asked if Tish could be a witness against her husband.
The Comelec chief and his wife are involved in a bitter marital dispute. They have filed criminal charges against each other.
Aside from the wife not being a complainant, Fariñas said there is a provision in the Rules of Court prescribing “marital or spousal privilege.”
“It states that one spouse cannot testify against the other, except if the case is one between them,” he said.
Among other allegations, the impeachment complaint against Bautista includes the accusations leveled against him by his wife, like his allegedly having amassed illegal wealth.
The principal complainant is former Negros Oriental representative Jacinto Paras.
Fariñas said he has not read the complaint yet.
“Let me read it first. All I know is that there are two complainants led by congressman Paras. I would like to find out if they have personal knowledge of the impeachment charges they claim chairman Bautista has committed,” he said.
“Like I told those planning to file a complaint against the Chief Justice when they came to see me, the way I look at their complaint is it will not stand scru- tiny (since it was based on news reports),” he said.
He pointed out that if the impeachment petition against Bautista is also based on news reports about Mrs. Bautista’s accusations against her husband, then the evidence is hearsay and would be unacceptable.