Who’s losing in the battle among equals?
With the retirement of COMELEC Commissioner Rowena Guanzon, the tension at the poll body whose hands are busy preparing for the upcoming elections, is starting to subside.
Guanzon’s act of openly criticizing Commissioner Aimee Ferolino for undue delay in releasing her ponencia on the disqualification case of presidential candidate Bongbong Marcos and of releasing her separate opinion disqualifying Marcos even without the main decision is her last-ditch effort to air her voice that is destined to be silenced upon her retirement.
The feisty commissioner knows fully well that her actions are outside the bounds of collegiality enshrined under COMELEC Rules of Procedure. As a seasoned law practitioner and a law professor, she knows that her opinion will not matter after her retirement if her division does not sit down and cast their vote on Ferolino’s decision. Now that she is retired without any decision yet from Ferolino, Guanzon’s opinion will not even find its way in the annals of jurisprudence at the COMELEC.
Guanzon’s actions may have openly defied honored traditions in a collegial body, but she has validly raised two major issues that the COMELEC must address now and in the future. First, petitions involving national interest must be resolved with dispatch. Second, the independence of the COMELEC must be always respected.
The petitions on the qualification of Marcos for the presidency are matters involving national interest. There is a sense of urgency here to prevent the voters from choosing a candidate who may possibly be disqualified from office. The issues on the qualification of Marcos must be resolved with finality by no less than the Supreme Court ideally prior to the day of the elections so that each voter will have an assurance that his chosen candidate will not be unseated if elected tothe office.
Moreover, the Commission must not dismiss Guanzon’s allegation of interference made by an elected senator on Ferolino’s decision. In one case, the Supreme Court stressed that “the enduring constitutional and jurisprudential policy upholding the COMELEC’s independence completely abhors any outside intrusion into its authority and functions.”
The senator’s alleged intrusion is quite disturbing. COMELEC must investigate this matter and give the public the assurance that its independence has never been compromised. The longer it takes for the COMELEC to resolve the petitions against Marcos, the more innuendos will be coming out.
The public knows that whatever is the decision of the poll body on the petitions, whether it is in favor of or against disqualification, does not really matter at all since the final battleground is the Supreme Court. All it needs to do is decide the case with dispatch and spare the body from these lingering accusations.
It is therefore not Guanzon’s loss if her vote is not counted. It is fait accompli for her. All that COMELEC must do now is to redeem its reputation.