MANILA, Philippines – So what if she is facing a graft case before the Sandiganbayan?

Commission on Elections (Comelec) Chair Sixto Brillantes Jr said on Wednesday, October 3, that the pending graft case against newly appointed Comelec Commissioner Grace Padaca is not enough to disqualify her. 

“Wala namang disqualification kung may kaso ka eh. Lahat naman ng tao dito, lahat ng government officials, halos lahat may kaso. Disqualification is when you get convicted by final judgment,” Brillantes told reporters a day after the Palace announced that Padaca, a former Isabela governor, has been appointed Comelec commissioner. (There is no disqualification if you have a case. Almost everyone here, almost all government officials, have pending cases.)

Padaca is facing arrest in connection with pending charges of graft and malversation of public funds filed before the Sandiganbayan. The former broadcaster, however, has asked the Supreme Court to dismiss the charges against her. She has not been actually arrested.

Sought for comment, Padaca has so far declined media interviews. 

On Tuesday, October 2, Brillantes said the new commissioner could face other legal issues. Chief of this involves the constitutional ban against appointing Comelec commissioners who ran in the preceding elections.

Section 1 of Article IX of the 1987 Constitution states: “There shall be a Commission on Elections composed of a Chairman and six Commissioners who shall be natural-born citizens of the Philippines and, at the time of their appointment, at least thirty-five years of age, holders of a college degree, and must not have been candidates for any elective positions in the immediately preceding elections.”

Echoing the Palace, an election lawyer told Rappler that the ban doesn’t cover Padaca. Lawyer George Garcia said the immediately the May 2010 national elections, when Padaca ran for Isabela governor and lost, is not the immediately preceding elections. He said it is the October 2010 barangay elections.

Garcia added that the Comelec “deserves” Padaca – a non-lawyer who can infuse “less technicality” and “more practicality” in the poll body. – Rappler.com