MANILA, Philippines – When he entered the Commission on Elections (Comelec) in January 2011, the accountant in Sixto Brillantes Jr kicked in. The 73-year-old man felt frustrated.

“‘Yung unang una kong pinag-initan, pera – mga unliquidated,” Brillantes told Rappler, referring to billions in unliquidated cash advances that the Comelec accumulated since 1986. (The first thing I picked on, funds – unliquidated ones.)

Brillantes – who is not only an election lawyer but also a certified public accountant – considered this key to election reform.

In its latest report, the Commission on Audit (COA) said the Comelec had P4.54 billion in unliquidated funds in end-2010, a month before Brillantes became Comelec chair. Of this unliquidated amount, the COA classified P3.1 billion as cash advances and P1.44 billion as fund transfers.

The COA said that under Brillantes, the Comelec slashed the unliquidated amount by 69% as of end-2011, leaving only P1.4 billion unliquidated.

Brillantes told reporters on Friday, April 12, that only P600,000 remained unliquidated as of end-2012.

Chairman’s 1st project

In an interview with Rappler in December 2012, Brillantes said he spent his first few months in office solving this problem. “Wala akong ginagawa rito kundi magsipirma ng mga demand letters eh. ‘I-liquidate n’yo ‘to,'” he said. (I hardly did anything else except to sign demand letters. “Liquidate this.”)

Former Comelec commissioner Rene Sarmiento, who ended his term last February, said this issue was one of those that made Brillantes really angry. The chairman blew his top over this, Sarmiento said.

Brillantes said he made several enemies.

In a move unpublicized then, Brillantes ended up firing two Comelec employees, one of whom could not account for P48 million in unliquidated advances. The other incurred P46 million in unliquidated funds.

The Comelec filed criminal charges against them.

Explaining the importance of internal reform, Brillantes said: “Kung maglilinis tayo sa labas, eh tayo muna. Kung hindi tayo malinis dito, ano ang katwiran natin para kuwestyunin ‘yung mga tao sa labas?” Brillantes said. (If we will clean up the system outside, let’s begin with ourselves. If we ourselves are not clean, what reason do we have to question the peoples outside?)

What helped Brillantes, he said, is that he knew the Comelec’s inner workings. An election lawyer for over two decades, he said this allowed him to institute other reforms within the poll body. (Watch part of Rappler’s interview below.)

‘Sincere efforts’

In its report, the COA lauded the Brillantes commission’s efforts.

“Management, with its sincere efforts, reduced the outstanding balance of unliquidated cash advances/fund transfers by sending demand letters to concerned accountable officers and withheld all money due them who failed to liquidate despite demand letters,” the COA said.

Meanwhile, the Comelec requested the COA to write off P656 million in unliquidated fund transfers to national government agencies and local government units. These unliquidated funds came from as far back as 1987, the COA noted.

“I think it will be granted that way, written off like bad debts,” Brillantes told reporters on Friday, April 12. He added the COA was “very fair” in its assessment of the Comelec.

But could these moves make him unpopular among Comelec employees?

“Ngayon, hindi ko alam,” Brillantes said. “Well, hindi importante sa akin. Ang importante is, alam nila na naglilinis. Alam nila na mainit. Pinag-iinitan ko silang lahat eh.” (Now, I’m not sure… It’s not important to me. What’s important is, they know we’re cleaning up. They know I’ll pick on them.) – Rappler.com