MANILA, Philippines – Senate Minority Leader Juan Ponce Enrile derailed the confirmation of Commission on Elections (Comelec) Chairman Andres Bautista on Wednesday, September 2, after the senator prompted the Commission on Appointments (CA) to suspend the confirmation proceedings.

Back in the Senate after nearly a year under hospital arrest, Enrile also entertained two personalities opposing Bautista’s confirmation as Comelec chief.  

Those opposing Bautista’s appointment, Jose Ozamiz and Erlinda Bildner, represented the Philippine Communications Satellite Corporation (Philcomsat). 

Enrile’s daughter, Katrina Ponce Enrile, sits on Philcomsat’s board. She also chairs the publicly-listed Philcomsat Holdings Corporation, which Philcomsat owns. 

Comelec Spokesman James Jimenez said the CA suspended the confirmation hearing of Bautista and another member of the poll body, Comelec Commissioner Sheriff Abas, due to a request by Enrile. 

Enrile wanted Bautista to file a written report on the 2013 elections.

The senator was grilling Bautista about the Comelec’s supposed failure to transmit election results from more than 18,400 precincts in the May 2013 elections. (READ: Election officers asked to explain transmission glitches)

This reported failure happened under then Comelec chairman Sixto Brillantes Jr, who stepped down from office in February this year. 

Bautista assumed office in May. (WATCH: Rappler Talk: Giving Comelec a new image)

In any case, Bautista said the Comelec earlier submitted this report to the joint congressional committee on the automated election system.

The hearing was suspended because the report was unavailable.

The CA hearing was one of Enrile’s first activities after he returned to the Senate on August 24. Facing plunder charges, he gained temporary freedom after the Supreme Court allowed him to post bail on August 18.

Bautista: ‘This is completely untrue’ 

The other highlight of Wednesday’s confirmation hearing was the appearance of Philcomsat representatives Ozamiz and Bildner.

Jimenez said Enrile asked that Ozamiz and Bildner “be allowed to speak before any member of the CA could interpellate.”

The Philcomsat officials claimed that “Bautista wrongfully sought a seat on the Philcomsat board, and tried but failed to get another elected to the board as well,” the Comelec spokesman said.

Jimenez recalled that “after they spoke, before Bautista had the opportunity to respond, Enrile made his demands” that prompted the hearing to be suspended.

Bautista allegedly committed these wrongdoings during his stint as chairman of the Presidential Commission on Good Government (PCGG).

“This is completely untrue,” Bautista told Rappler.

Bautista explained that, to represent the government’s 35% stake in Philcomsat, he and Karen Singson, then chief privatization officer of the Privatization and Management Office (PMO), got nominated to the board of the Philippine Overseas Telecommunications Corporation (POTC).

The POTC owns Philcomsat.

Bautista said of his nomination alongside Singson: “We were then elected to the board with the knowledge and assistance of current management.  However, I was never invited to and hence has never attended even one board meeting.  So I am completely surprised by Mr Ozamis’ assertion that during the Aquino administration, ‘PCGG intruded into and actively interfered in the business affairs of Philcomsat.’ This is a complete falsehood.”  

He also pointed out that Philcomsat’s opposition to his appointment involves acts that didn’t happen under his watch. He said “the main acts being complained about…happened between 2003 and 2007.”

This was “way before my assumption as PCGG chair in September 2010,” Bautista said. 

Iqbal nephew not confirmed, too

This is not the first time Ozamiz and Bildner raised these claims against Bautista. 

On June 15, BusinessMirror reported that the POTC filed a letter before the CA to oppose Bautista’s appointment.

Ozamiz and Bildner, among others, signed the 8-page letter.

In the letter, the POTC cited “Bautista’s misconduct, beginning with deliberate illegal machinations to obtain his position as director and chairman of POTC.” By doing this, the group said Bautista violated a “prior PCGG resolution and directives from the Department of Justice.”

Like Bautista, poll commissioner Abas was not confirmed on Wednesday.

Abas is a nephew of Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) chief negotiator Mohagher Iqbal, as Abas himself told Bautista.

This is the biggest issue raised against Abas.

Critics said the government wants to use Abas to influence Comelec-related activities involving the MILF. These include a possible plebiscite on the proposed Bangsamoro region initially headed by Iqbal’s group.

Downplaying these speculations, Bautista told reporters in May, “In the end, performance ang dapat nating tutukan e (In the end, we should focus on performance).”

President Benigno Aquino III appointed Bautista and Abas at the same time, alongside Comelec Commissioner Rowena Guanzon. 

The CA confirmed the appointment of Guanzon, former Cadiz City mayor and Commission on Audit commissioner, on June 10.

The Philippine Constitution requires Comelec commissioners, heads of executive departments, ambassadors, and officers of the armed forces, among others, to get the CA’s confirmation after the President appointed them. (READ: Confirmation limbo: Long but futile process?)

Composed of lawmakers, the CA is part of checks and balances in Philippine government. The confirmation process, however, is also prone to abuse because of politics. – Rappler.com