:: TRANSCRIPT OF THE PUBLIC HEARINGS FOR THE NEWLY APPOINTED/CONFIRMED COMELEC COMMISSIONERS

Commissioner Romeo Brawner

At 9:41 a.m., the Honorable Alfredo S. Lim, Chairman of the Committee on Constitutional Commissions and Offices, called the meeting to order.

THE CHAIRMAN: The meeting is hereby called to order. [Gavel]

Mr. Secretary, is there a quorum?

SECRETARY TIU: Thank you, Mr. Chairman, Your Honors. In accordance with Section 2 of Article 6 of our rules, it says:

"Quorum at Public Hearings - The presence of the Chairman or Vice-Chairman or at least three (3) members, one of whom shall serve as Acting Chairman, shall be sufficient for the purpose of conducting public hearings and acting on motions and other incidents related thereto."

THE CHAIRMAN: Well, since Congressman Abayon is here and Congressman Dimaporo, and yours truly as Chairman, I think we have a quorum according to the rules.

SECRETARY TIU: If we go by Section 2 of Article 6, Mr. Chairman, I agree.

THE CHAIRMAN: So just to facilitate this process, the confirmation of the ad interim appointments, we'll now proceed with the hearing. Is there any objection from the two distinguished members of the House?

REPRESENTATIVE ABAYON: First, Mr. Chairman, I move to dispense with the calling of the roll.

THE CHAIRMAN: Thank you. So, the calling of the roll is hereby set aside.

Mr. Secretary, have we established jurisdiction on the confirmation of the ad interim appointment of Justice Romeo A. Brawner, as Commissioner of Commission on Elections and Atty. Cesar D. Buenaflor of the Civil Service Commission?

SECRETARY TIU: Thank you Mr. Chairman, Your Honors.

The ad interim appointment of Commissioner and Justice Romeo A. Brawner was referred to your Secretariat on September 18, 2005, and the second one was on October 13, 2005. He has complied with all the documentary requirements, which was completed on November 21, 2005, and the same was properly referred to your committee by the Chairman of the Commission.

The same appointment was also published in two newspapers of general circulation and as of this date, there is no opposition on record against Commissioner-Appointee Brawner.

As far as Comm. Cesar D. Buenaflor is concerned, he has long complied with the documentary requirements. His appointment was duly published in two newspapers of general circulation.

However, Mr. Chairman, Your Honors, yesterday afternoon, your Secretariat received a sworn opposition filed by DepEd Undersecretary Juan Miguel Luz. The same was distributed to the members present this morning as we received this opposition only at 3:00 o'clock yesterday afternoon. The appointee was also furnished copies of the opposition only this morning.

We informed the oppositor that we will be having a hearing, committee hearing this morning, however, he is in Iloilo and he told your Secretariat that he will be sending his lawyer. But as of now, as of this time, the lawyer of the oppositor is not yet in the room.

That is all for the juridictional requirements, Mr. Chairman, Your Honor.

THE CHAIRMAN: Thank you, Mr. Secretary. May we announce the arrival of the Honorable Pichay, Jr.

REPRESENTATIVE PICHAY: Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

THE CHAIRMAN: Chairman of the House Committee.

Since the oppositor is not around, I think in the order of preference as you said, the nomination of Justice Brawner has no opposition, so I'd rather give him priority in this process of confirmation and later on, the Honorable Buenaflor, to give time for the oppositor to arrive. If he has not arrived, then, we will proceed with the confirmation.

Will that be alright, Mr. Secretary?

SECRETARY TIU: Mr. Chairman, Your Honors, I think that's the logical sequence, Your Honor, and...

THE CHAIRMAN: Are the nominees present? We acknowledge your presence.

So Mr. Secretary, Justice Brawner and Commissioner Buenaflor are present. Please sit down. Thank you.

Justice Brawner, please come forward and take your seat - but before doing that, Mr. Secretary, please administer the oath.

(At this juncture, Sec. Arturo L. Tiu administered the oath to Comm. Romeo A. Brawner).

THE CHAIRMAN: Kindly be seated Justice Brawner. Thank you, Mr. Secretary.

Members of the Committee, the appointee for the position of the Commissioner of the Commission on Elections is Justice Romeo Brawner vice Virgilio Garcillano, starting September 18, 2005, for a term of seven years expiring on February 2, 2011.

As I understand it, Mr. Secretary, you have provided each member a copy of the bio data and profile and investigation report of the appointee. Hence, to save time, we do not have to go into details. But for purposes of record, I just would like to brief the salient outstanding features of this profile.

As a brief backgrounder, Justice Brawner of Nueva Vizcaya, a senior citizen like me, [Laughter] finished law in UP in 1959 and Associate in Arts in the same institution in 1955. Starting as a Fiscal in 1965 in Mountain Province, he rose to become City Judge of Baguio in 1975 up to 1983. RTC Judge from 1983 to 1987 in Pangasinan. Justice of the Court of Appeals from 1995 to 2005. He never held any derogatory record. I repeat: he never held any derogatory record; which is quite strange for being a member of the Judiciary. [Laughter]

No opposition has been filed against him. However, some criticisms have been aired concerning his appointment. First, as to age - of course, I'll be the first one to object to that because we are on the same boat. I disagree with that because just like me, Justice Brawner is as energetic, physically able, and mentally capable to discharge duties of a Commissioner. Mas magandang lalake lang sa akin itong nominee. [Laughter]

So, if only for age, I personally do not consider this as a factor in his confirmation.

Second, some say he had no background in elections. On this point, may I ask Justice Brawner, although you have an extensive background in election, you know, hearing these protest cases, do you think you will be able to perform the duties of an Election Commissioner if not better when you were a member of the Judiciary?

COMMISSIONER BRAWNER; With my record in judicial work - 11 years as a prosecutor, 20 years as a trial judge, and 10 years as a magistrate of the Court of Appeals where I retired as the presiding justice - I do feel that the wisdom and experience and knowledge that I acquired through the years in judicial work has prepared me for this new experience in the Commission on Elections. As a judge and justice of the regular courts, we deal with all sorts of legal questions under the sun, except COMELEC laws and auditing rules, labor laws or administrative cases before the Ombudsman, appealed civil and criminal cases, all cases except election laws. And with that discipline that I acquired through the years in the judiciary, I do feel, Your Honor, that I can be able to tackle the job and decision making or adjudicatory work in the Commission on Appointments. It's just but a limited field ... Elections, Your Honor ... and the questions are very simple, questions of fact. The only question is, who of the two contending parties has garnered more votes? That's the only question and some legal questions. Compare that to all those issues that we have tackled in the regular courts and the Court of Appeals, I think, I feel, I am prepared for this new experience as... for decision making in the COMELEC. Thank you very much, Sirs.

THE CHAIRMAN: Thank you, Justice Brawner. What are your thoughts on election fraud and how do you think this could be prevented in the forthcoming elections, 2007.

COMMISSIONER BRAWNER: Well, of course, as we all know, the image of the COMELEC is a bit assailed, with bad publicity. So, we should strive to have clean, honest, orderly elections. I will, of course, do my share, especially I am new in the Commission on Appointments. I must strive - Commission on Elections, I am sorry - I must strive to work for clean, honest... I am sorry, maybe I am talking of the future [Laughter]

THE CHAIRMAN: You are most welcome. After you are tired in your stint in the COMELEC. Please proceed.

COMMISSIONER BRAWNER: I really have plans of running for Congress [Laughter] upon retirement, but then I was appointed to the Commission on Elections and that foreclosed all my burning ambition to become a politician.

THE CHAIRMAN: What do you think of the proposal to cancel the elections in 2007? I think, this was one of the recommendations in the transitory provisions by the Consultative Commission. What do you think of no elections in 2007?

COMMISSIONER BRAWNER: I think, that this is a beautiful democratic process. It is all in place. It is a chance for everybody to prove his worth again in 2007. Why don't we give them a chance? I, too, as I was saying, wanted to run for elections in 2007. I am in favor of having elections again in 2007, Your Honors.

THE CHAIRMAN: The reason I raised that question is, don't you think that the essence of a democratic form of government is the exercise of the right of suffrage, which can only be done during elections, to choose the right leaders or officials whom the electorate wants. Now, to deprive them of such a sacrosanct right, don't you think it directly attacks the basic principles of a democratic form of government, Mr. Nominee?

COMMISSIONER BRAWNER: I beg your pardon?

THE CHAIRMAN: The recommendation of the Consultative Commission, which seeks to eliminate elections, don't you think this is a direct assault on the right of suffrage of the electorate, which is enshrined in our Constitution because we are a democratic form of government?

COMMISSIONER BRAWNER: Well, as I said, I am in favor of holding elections because it is a beautiful democratic process and it has given a chance to our citizens to choose the people they wish to lead them in government.

THE CHAIRMAN: May we announce the arrival of Cong. Danton Bueser.

Lastly, and this is ... well, it depends on the person who will hear this question. Among so many qualified nominees, why were you handpicked or chosen by the President to fill up the vacancy in the COMELEC, occupied formerly by Commissioner Garcillano?

COMMISSIONER BRAWNER: Well, I was...

THE CHAIRMAN: Just a moment, we also announce the arrival of Cong. Aurelio Umali.

Please.

COMMISSIONER BRAWNER: Your Honors, I thin, my credentials will support me if I say I was chosen because of my vast experience and integrity in the government service. As a city judge of Baguio for eight years, I was given an award as best or Most Outstanding City Judge of the Philippines by the Integrated Bar of the Philippines, National Chapter, the National Integrated Bar, and it was awarded by the justices of the Supreme Court then in 1980. And in ... when I was an RTC judge, I was also awarded the award for judicial excellence with a price of P50,000 given by the foundation for judicial excellence and this is given to ... yearly to two RTC judges. For the year 1995, I was given that award. And I'd like to believe that we were chosen and given those awards after a thorough background investigation to prove our worth and especially our integrity. For example, the local chapter of the Integrated Bar has to recommend the awardee. And, the Local Integrated Bar of the people, these lawyers who practice before you are the one who know you. They would know if you are a corrupt judge. They would know if you are somebody that can be worthy because of integrity. And, so they recommend you the awarding committee. I think that because of my record, Your Honors, I was chosen to be appointed to the Commission on Elections in place of Commissioner Garcillano as borne by my appointment.

Thank you, Sirs.

THE CHAIRMAN: Thank you, Justice Brawner