EVERY MAN FOR HIMSELF
IPER's Casiple says the "reform generation" in the Comelec spawned by Edsa 1, the first "people power" revolt that ousted the Marcoses, has barely managed to survive. "The only remnant of the Monsod reform era who is still there physically is Commissioner (Resurreccion) Borra," he says. "Sadain would have been reform-oriented also but he never went that far. Tuason (Florentino Jr.) was also a good candidate but he is sickly and just went with the flow. The rest are true blue politicians — Abalos, Javier, Barcelona, and Garcillano. With that kind of combination, you can't really expect much."

	Guarding the vote. The Comelec failed to hold a credible election in 2004.

Recent changes have just made matters worse. Casiple points to the commissioner-in-charge (CIC) system being implemented in place of the old bureaucracy of regional directors and an executive director. Under the CIC system, the regional directors have become mere pawns taking orders from the commissioner. At the same time, regional directors — only a handful of whom are civil-service eligible — no longer report to the executive director as they now deal directly with the commissioner-in-charge.

"The collegial character of the Comelec has been lost," says Casiple. "Many decisions are now made by a single commissioner in the area where he or she is in charge. Basically, these are approved by the Comelec en banc. It has become a sort of bargaining tit-for-tat, if one approves of the actions of another commissioner, then the other also approves of his or hers. In the end, kanya-kanya talaga (it's every man for himself)."

Over the years, the setup has evolved into a power play with the commissioners usurping the directors' powers. An extreme demonstration of this was, upon the motions of then Commissioner Tancangco, the executive director was basically stripped of his executive powers. Recounts Casiple: "Nagmukhang tanga ang executive director (The executive director was reduced to an idiot). He can't attend Comelec meetings when he's not invited. All documents and reports will have to go through the commissioner-in-charge. That was how absolute the CIC system was in the last elections."

Even the Consortium for Elections and Political Process Strengthening (CEPPS) mission — which had representatives from the International Republican Institute (IRI), National Democratic Institute for International Affairs (NDI) and International Foundation for Election Systems (IFES) — that monitored the May 2004 polls noted in its report that the CIC system is "seriously flawed and largely dysfunctional." Instead of the chairman and six commissioners functioning as a board of directors overseeing policy matters, the "Commissioners have maintained an undersized and marginalized staff of civil servants, and assumed operational responsibilities over geographic and functional areas."

BREEDING CULTURE OF CORRUPTION AND PATRONAGE
To some extent, the report said, this has allowed the commissioners to "focus on expanding and strengthening their personal portfolios." Such a system, both insiders and observers agree, has only bred a culture of corruption and patronage as officials and staff have become beholden to the commissioners.

"Our professionalism and our being career officials were destroyed under Abalos because those who were promoted were the politicos and the corrupt," says a Comelec official. He cites the case of an election officer in Metro Manila with a salary grade of 21 whom Garcillano promoted to regional director, which has a salary grade of 28 — a seven-step salary-grade increase when the law allows a maximum of only three steps. Worse, he says, was the Comelec's accommodation of a losing candidate, to whom it gave the position of Director IV with an equivalent salary grade of 28; the politician-turned-Comelec official eventually left his post to run in the last elections.

There are, of course, Comelec personnel who have remained professional and reform-minded. But as Monsod points out, "Who would dare risk being at odds with a commissioner when seven years already correspond to a third of one's career in public service?"

In the post-Monsod era, nongovernmental organizations like IPER are also finding it a painstaking task to push for electoral reforms. In fact, when Pardo took over, NGOs that nurtured a partnership with the Comelec through the Consortium on Electoral Reforms (formerly Citizens' Consortium on Electoral Reforms) had to momentarily disengage for lack of any clear direction of reform initiatives within the poll body.

The working relationship was revived when Benipayo became chairman and came up with a reform program of his own. But it proved to be rather short-lived after the appointments commission bypassed the apolitical Benipayo several times owing largely to the very public infighting in the Comelec.

In contrast, under the watch of Monsod, the CCER, created with the main advocacy of introducing amendments to the Omnibus Election Code and laws enabling the provisions of the Constitution, provided the impetus for the passage of the Party List Act, Fair Elections Act, and the laws on continuing registration, electoral modernization, and the most recent, overseas absentee voting. Still to be hurdled are bills on local sectoral representation, political dynasties, political party reform and campaign financing, and amendments to the party-list law.

RETHINKING THE COMELEC
For all its flaws, there are still those who think the Comelec is still worth saving. Among them is Monsod, who even thinks that President Arroyo, despite the troubles she is in right now, should take the first step by appointing two new, good commissioners. "Let people interpret it the way they want to," he says. "But if she appoints two good commissioners, that will be good for the Comelec. That is institution-building."

	Slow count. Charges of fraud and one of the slowest counts in election history cast doubt on the Comelec's integrity.

But a Comelec director thinks that's not enough. "There should be an investigation of the recordings to find out who were the ones involved," he says, insisting that such a call is not intended to ruin the Comelec but to strengthen it."

"That's why I am not ashamed of what happened," he says. "I am glad that this happened. Because I hope this will lead to the cleansing of the Comelec."

One of IPER's proposals, which the CEPPS mission adopted, is to abolish the commission as a permanent body. In its place would be a secretariat that will handle purely administrative functions like the keeping of records and equipment, and the continuing registration of voters. The commission will only be set up just before an election, its officers chosen by a selection process involving all the political parties and "civil society" organizations. That way, there is concurrence with all the appointees. At the same time, it prevents the undue influence exerted on them since they will be known only days before an election is conducted.

In the meantime, Casiple says, "If they (Comelec commissioners) are statesmen, they should tender their courtesy resignation immediately if only to save the institution and its integrity"

"But it seems there's a slim chance in that," he says, "because they're denying that they're in crisis. And these are the same people who will handle the upcoming ARMM elections."