Only two of the 6 Commission on Elections commissioners congratulated Comelec chief Andres Bautista after his victory in the House of Representatives.

The House justice committee on Wednesday, September 20, junked a verified impeachment complaint against Bautista after finding it insufficient in form.

Asked how his relationship with his colleagues is, Bautista laughed for a few seconds before trying to call Commissioner Luie Tito Guia and answering the question.

“Basta ano, dalawa nag-text sa ‘kin ng congratulations,“ Bautista told reporters while laughing. (There were two commissioners who texted me to say congratulations.) He was at the Senate for the hearing on the proposed 2018 budget of the Comelec on Thursday, September 21.

He, however, refused to say who these colleagues are.

“‘Di ko na sasabihin [kung sino]. Pero may mga ibang commissioners d’yan baka gusto n’yong tanungin (I won’t say who they are but there are other commissioners here you might want to ask them),” Bautista said within earshot of Guia, who was sitting nearby.

All 6 commissioners earlier urged Bautista to either take a leave of absence or resign, following the impeachment complaint against him and his feud over money with his wife, Patricia “Tish” Bautista.

“With all due respect, it is our consensus that Chairman Bautista can no longer effectively lead the Commission. The time for him to let go has come,” the 6 commissioners said in a statement read by Commissioner Christian Robert Lim on August 24.

The same Comelec commissioners issued a strongly worded memo in June 2016 hitting Bautista for a “failed leadership” of the Comelec, a claim that Bautista later denied.

Bautista has said resigning and taking a leave of absence from the Comelec “are options that are always available” despite the junking of the impeachment complaint against him. (READ: Patricia Bautista ‘disappointed but undeterred’ by impeachment dismissal)

Now that the complaint has been junked, Bautista said it is now “business as usual” at the constitutional body. – Rappler.com