Update: Rafanan also removed from DOJ-COMELEC probe team. Brillantes says he is “uncontrollable”
http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/nation/08/26/11/rafanan-removed-poll-fraud-fact-finding-team
The person who has always been known to be uncompromising in matters of electoral crimes and graft and corruption has been dismissed from his department level position while those who were involved in graft and corruption continue to enjoy the trust and confidence of top officials.
Ferdinand Rafanan, director of the Comelec’s Law Department since June 2008, who investigated the overpriced P690-million ballot secrecy folder contract purchased for the May 2010 elections with OTC paper supply, is now on a floating status.
Last Aug. 2, the Comelec commissioners, in an en banc decision, reshuffled some offices in the Comelec. While others who were affected by the reshuffle merely got transferred to another department like Atty. Allen Francis Abaya , Director III of the Comelec Electoral Contests and Adjudication Department , who got Rafanan’s position in the Law Department (Commissioner Rene Sarmiento took over as OIC of the Law department but it was really Abaya who was head of the unit), Rafanan, who has the rank of Director IV, was not given any position.
Rafanan was assigned to the Joint Department of Justice-Comelec Investigating committee, an ad hoc body created to investigate frauds in the 2004 and 2007 election.
“It’s constructive dismissal,” Rafanan said.
He said he has written the Comelec Chairman Brillantes, the commissioners and the Personnel Department that “he is not waiving his rights as permanently appointed Director IV of the Law Department as per appointment duly approved by the Civil Service Commission” even as he accepted membership in the ad hoc DOJ-Comelec Preliminary Investigation Committee.
He said his designation in the committee is not a “re-assignment.” A re-assignment, he said, would be to an equivalent existing unit of the same government agency. The DOJ-Comelec investigating committee does not fall in that category.
A re-assignment, he further said, should not diminish an employee’s rank, status and salary. “Definitely, my status has been diminished,” he said.
It must be recalled that Abaya together with Comelec Executive Director Jose Tolentino and other members of the Comelec Bids and Awards committee were suspended for six months by the Ombudsman over the grossly overpriced secrecy folder. After serving out their suspension, they were back in the Comelec as if nothing had happened.
Less than three weeks Abaya replaced Rafanan in the Law Department, the Office of the Ombudsman found him guilty of “simple neglect of duty, simple misconduct and conduct prejudicial to the best interest of the service” still on the secrecy folders case.
He was ordered suspended for six months without pay. Also found guilty and suspended were Maria Lea Alarkon and Antonio Santella.
Cleared for insufficient evidence were Tolentino, Maria Norina Casingal, and Martin Niedo.
Brillantes, in a TV interview, complained about the severity of the sentence on Abaya. He said it should have been only two weeks because it was just “simple neglect of duty.”
Never mind that P690 million is not “simple” at all.
One of the issues raised against the appointment of Brillantes as Comelec chair was his being an election lawyer for 25 years. Certainly there’s a basis for questions of conflict of interest in elections cases that his law firm handles and he would be deciding now.
Does he inhibit in these cases?
Rafanan said there have been issues where he had been straightforward in expressing his opinion about problems in Comelec’s implementation of its mandate of holding credible elections. One was the illegal extention of registration for the barangay elections which caused a delay in the preparation of that election . The delay caused non-holding of election in 6,000 barangays on election day. Comelec had to hold the elections three days after.
Rafanan said he has been getting pressure to clear high ranking officials involved in election crimes.
Brillantes’ Comelec , it seems, is not taking the “matuwid na daan” path of President Aquino.
Who are pressuring Rafanan to clear high ranking officials involved in election crimes?
If it is not Pnoy himself, he’d better ask for the names of those making his ‘matuwid na daan” nagtutuwad na daan and ‘fire’ them right out!
Si Brillantes amoy imburnal na tulad ni Gunggong RaulG. Dapat hindi i-confirm tao na yan! Teka, was he confirmed already?
It’s not PNoy. You got it right Chi (#2), plus other commissioners.
May Mafia din diyan sa KOMOLEK. Mukha na lang ni Brillantes hindi mo na siya pagkakatiwalaan. Dapat lang siguro na yong mga matatanda na wag ng ipuwesto pa dahil sigurado ko gagawa rin yan ng pera para ….. masustentuhan ang sarili bago sila kunin ni Lord. Magpapasasa muna sila sa buhay.
Di kaya ala-Abalos din ang style ni Brillantes…alisin na yata ang KOMOLEK, palitan na lang ng “ala lottery” ang paraan ng eleksyon, sa pamamgitan ng may-tribunal system. Magtatag ang gobyerno ng komesyon, na maghahanap ng pinaka-qualified na mga kandidatos, via, rigid-pre-searching and testing, mga karanasan, kasama na ang edad-age limit,dynasty connections, kredinsyals, patriotism-attitude,at iba pang kailangan sa mabubuting pamumuno. Ang pinaka-resulta ng mga paraang iksaminasyon, say, 10-na lang ang natira, idaan na lang sa paraang “lottery” machine na lang ang pipili sa kanila, huwag na yong mga “king making-makers style” o kkk ( kaibigan, kaklase,kaibigan o kabarilan ). By analysis, itong maka-lumang sistema ang nagpapahirap sa bayan. Ibig kung sabihin, mag-“modify-innovate” ng paraan, para magamit ang “machine sa eleksyon”,not by ballots, but by numbers or names, na nakatatak sa bilog na bulang umi-ikot , ang machines ay kontrolado ng Media-at- sa mata ng imbitadong International journalist. Just my worth penny of idea for good in the election process.
Siguro, mag-envolve muna ang mga “magdalo-idiology” sa pagbabago ng Komolek. Ito ang sanhi-ugat ng kalukuhan, tuwing may-eleksyon. Sila ang kusa sa pag-proklama ng mga taong dapat o karapat dapat na mga halal ng bayan.Very frustrating na kasi ang KOMOLEK na iyan, nabubulok na yata, mahirap ng mabago, dahil na din sa politika.Palitan ang utak-gawaing politika ng ala-“lottery-Machine System” after years of pre-search-tribunals.
Appointing Brillantes to Comelec is one of the serious mistakes of Aquino.
It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to conclude that this guy will make biased and conflict of interest decisions sooner or later. What can one expect from a former election lawyer who has lawyered for scores and scores of politicians? There are ties that bind him more closely to certain clients. It is only human nature. But that is critically bad for such a critical position as a Comelec Chief.
He says he already gave up his interests in his law firm specializing in electoral cases? Tell that to my barber.
My barber says if he had the money he would buy shares in Brillantes’ “former” law firm. Siguradong lotto ticket yan.
Has Brillantes been confirmed yet? I hope not.
I don’t like what he said while he was waiting for the decision on who among them recommended would be selected as Comelec Chief. Sabi niya “I-birthday gift niyo na lang sa akin yan.”
Such remarks even if aired as a joke is a bad joke and is abominable. It has exposed the workings of his mind.
you know who should be the next COMELEC commissioner? ferdinand rafanan.
From what I hear there are some powerful businessmen who regularly corner election related big ticket projects that are continously paying government officials so that they will not be implicated. When Aquino came to power these businessmen were a bit nervous as they were placed in a precarious situation, but they still paid, it seems that money carries a lot of weight in this administration still. Aquino’s daang matuwid, utak wangwang, etc, are good concepts, but it would br better if they reinforced these with uncompromising law enforcement. Aquino needs champions in his team who will not just go after the Arroyos but will clean up the comelec and other departments.
I would not be surprised if some of these “businessmen” even gave money to Aquino’s election campaign support. Oops.
Brillantes looks like an old dog that only knows old tricks, the problem is, he only knows tricks, wala nang chance magbago. Would someone please take him out of his misery? Put Rafanan in, just like Heidi Mendoza, why insist on this old dog that doesn’t know anything but old dirty tricks?
Can Brillantes be replaced if he does not deliver o katulad ni Maldita ng Ombudsman na kailangang i-impeach?
Mukhang Brilliantes is another Abalaos, a “player”. He swings where he is most benefitted. Pnoy should discern this right away.
walang magagawa ang isang tsuper kung ang makina ng kanyang sasakyang minamaneho ay puro kalawang ang mga piyesa.
kawawang PeNoy, baka bumuka ‘yung daang sinasabi niya at tuwid pati dalawang paa niyang mahuhulog at lalamunin ng hukay na ginawang patibong ng mga inaakala niyang katuwang niya.
The COMELEC Chairman and commissioners are appointed for a term of seven years. So they will be there even a year after Noy has left.
Nasaan ang “Tuwid na Daan” na sinasabi nitong si Gng. Aquino?
Sabagay kung siya nga ay hindi makalakad ng tuwid itong mga tao pa niya kaya?
Pareparehas lang ang mga yan …. sabi nga weder weder lang. Puro palabas lamang ang ginagawa ng mga yan hanggang anim na taon tapos yong papalit dito kay Pagong ibang palabas naman. Ganyan lang ang buhay, Kaya wag na kayong umasa pa dito sa administrasyong ito.
Kailangan maginvest si PNoy sa peace and order, di uunlad ang bayan natin kung mabagal ang hustisya at kumakalam ang sikmura ng mga pulis. We have to start somewhere at sa palagay ko maraming malulutas na problema kung makikita natin ang mga kawatan sa loob ng selda. Ito ay isang senyales na merong batas na umiiral sa bayan at handa silang ipatupad ito para sa kapakanan ng bawat Pilipino.
Hindi lang pera ang pinaguusapan dito, pati na ang future ng ating bansa. Marami ang may interest sa mga mananalo, from within and others. No place for a person who cannot compromise i tell you. Sucks!
Okay lang, Atty. Rafanan. Iwanan mo na yang opisinang yan. Mamamatay ka lang diyan ng walang kalaban-laban.
Two of Rafanan’s predecessors in the Legal Dept. were ambushed one after the other within 4 the months from Nov. 2007 to Mar 2008.
Alioden Dalaig – then Comelec Legal Chief – the one who ordered Lintang Bedol’s arrest for contempt for failing to attend hearings. He was shot and killed as he left a casino.
His successor, Wynne Asdala, who is married to a QC judge, was critically wounded in an ambush 4 months later.
It’s a wonder Rafanan is still alive after those 3 long years he has been investigating the Comelec anomalies. But he had just been marginalized by Brillantes and the remnants of Abalos’ mafia gang.
Bad Guys: 1 – Good Guys: 0
The writer asked me to withhold his identity:
Good that you touched on this issue. You are just one of two “black swans” among the Philippine media outlets or among columnists which/who carried this news today.
The Comelec en banc Aug 2 action is really strange given that a staunch “batu-bato sa langit” and “walang tinatantanan kahit sinong tamaang” upholder of truth and justice at Comelec was unceremoniously yanked out and replaced by a still green lawyer who have been suspended in July 2009 for being a signing participant in an attempt to cheat us taxpayers with an amount that is close to 14 times the 50 million plunder threshold.
To top it all the same lawyer has recently (based on the July 19 midnight decision but only lately released Ombudsman reso (meaning before Justice Morales sat as the new Ombudsman) been suspended again for the same crime – the first suspension in July 2009 being just a preventive one.
Maybe God really got mad na and intervened this time for that lawyer cannot continue holding on as head of the Law Dept as the Comelec en banc wanted for he was suspended again for another 6 months. He is among only 3 of the gang of 6 who were originally suspended in July 2009.
Stranger still is why the rule of “in a conspiracy, the crime of one is the crime of all” was not applied. All 5 as BAC members were signatories to the PHP 690 million BAC recomm. The 6th is you know who.
To top it all, the Law Dept staff who were perceived as “loyal” to Atty Rafanan were also removed from the department.
Why only 3 of the 6 perpetrators of the same crime were punished is stranger di ba ? But if you apply a certain “theory” over all these ordinarily strange actions and developments, just like in quantum mechanics, all the strangeness will disappear and everything will become logically clear (but revolting !).
Is Comelec suffering from truth decay that is why it is forcefully extracting a “truth tooth?” Or is it a truth-toxic organization ?
Can someone really fix the COMELEC? as if nothing really changes here. Puro mga bayaran ang nakaupo. Pnoy, Congress, and Supreme Court, asan ang supervision dito..daang matuwid pa ba ito!!! o niloloko ninyo lang kami ulit???
wow! as I said, some influential businessmen continue to pay some poeple, aparrently not just to keep their asses safe but to eliminate all possiblities of the law ever getting to them?
Money really talks!
Wow, Rafanan had just confirmed my suspicions. Just today, in an interview w/ Anthony Taberna over Umagang Kay Ganda, he even used the word “Mafia” (refer to my comment #18 above) while Brillantes arrogantly justifies his biases.
Go Rafanan, the country needs more people like you. You cannot succeed in the wangwang environment of Comelec’s baluktot na daan. You can do it in private. Good luck.
Brillantes and other commissioners, Sarmiento included, keeps on saying that kaaway lahat ni Rafanan. Siyempre naman if you are in environment na puro corrupt,mangyayari talaga niyan galit sa iyo lahat.
Gusto nila lahat pakisamahan even kahit sa kasamaan.
tt, ellen,
My world revolves around paper, so anything involving paper moving around i usually hear about it. The powers behind this comelec bruhaha goes beyond political terms, mapapalitan na lang si Aquino nandyan pa rin ang mga yan, and this problem will continue as long as there are people willing to be corrupted currently and maybe some waiting in the wings for their turn.
siempre, ang buni ‘wag hindi masaling ay nangangati.
ganyan ang grupo nina brillantes lalo na itong si sarmiento na kahit kailan ay hindi dapat pagtiwalaan.
huwag kalilimutan ‘yung palusot niya noong huling huli siyang merong dalang “kargamento” sa otel nung kasagsagan ng eleksiyon.
meron bang hakbang na ginawa laban sa kanya ang commolect nu’n?