To leave or not to leave, Elections chairman Sixto Brillantes Jr. will make his decision by Monday.
On Thursday, Brillantes, who was extremely disappointed with the recent decisions of the Supreme Court against the Comelec, said he will talk first with his daughters, especially his eldest who is in Connecticut.
“I’ll take a break Saturday, Sunday. Konting meditation, konting pag-iisip tapos I will make a final decision by Monday. I will be talking to some people. I have to talk to my daughters, who are the people behind me. Sila lang naman ang pinaniniwalaan ko,” he told reporters.
He said his daughters have been against his taking the post from the start. Brillantes has three daughters.
“Matagal na nilang ayaw ako nandito e. Pinagagalitan na nga nila ako noon pa. Seryoso, sabi ko nag-iisip ako na ayoko na. ‘Di ba sinabi ko naman noon pa,’ sabi nung bunso ko, ‘hindi ka naman dapat pumunta na dyan matanda ka na e’,” said Brillantes, 73.
It was only his daughter who is abroad whom he has yet to speak with.
Asked if he would still pursue his meeting with the President, Brillantes said the schedule given to him was next week.
Brillantes served as President Aquino’s election lawyer in 2010. He was appointed Comelec chief January 2011.
“I wanted to ask him to appoint already the two, and since andyan na, wala naman akong reason to meet with the President unless tawagin niya ako, pupunta ako,” he said.
Replacement
And in case he decides to indeed leave his post, Brillantes said he will meet with the President to ask him who will be his [Brillantes’] replacement.
“Pag ang desisyon ko is tutuluyan ko na e baka pumunta ako sa kaya, sabihin ko, sino ba ang ililipat mo, sino ba ang ipapalit mo sa akin,” he said.
On Tuesday, Brillantes said he was contemplating on resigning after the SC decided against the Comelec in four cases:
- Team Patay/Team Buhay posters;
- granting the petition of party-list organizations which the Comelec disqualified;
- remanding to the Comelec the case of Homer Saquilayan and Imus Mayor Emmanuel Maliksi; and
- issuing a temporary restraining order on the airtime limit of candidates being implemented by the poll body.
Brillantes expressed confidence that with the two new commissioners, the poll body will be able to act on the cases even without him.
”Wala nang problema kaya nga pwede na rin akong magpahinga dahil anim na,” he said. — RSJ, GMA News
