To be sure, the affable Abalos apparently knows just how to soothe ruffled feathers and tend toes that have been stepped on. Yet having him head the Comelec may turn out to be not that good an idea at all. After all, the former chief of the Metro Manila Development Authority (MMDA) still sits in the national directorate of the Lakas-NUCD, the party of President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo. While the Comelec has had its share of commissioners who were politicians, it is the first time in the country’s history that an active political party leader is serving as the poll body’s top gun, a fact that can give rise to questions regarding conflicts of interest during elections.
According to the Constitution, the Comelec is supposed to be “an independent constitutional body capable of giving substance and meaning, through the electoral process, to the democratic principle that sovereignty resides in the people and all government authority emanates from them.”
This early, though, questions are being raised whether or not the Comelec can remain independent under the helm of Abalos, who is not only known for his unflagging loyalty to the Lakas-NUCD, but who also acknowledges a close friendship with First Gentleman Miguel ‘Mike’ Arroyo, as well as with siblings of the president herself.
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