Press Release
December 16, 2007

KIKO CALLS ON COMELEC CHAIRMAN SEARCH COMMITTEE TO MAKE PUBLIC THE LIST OF NOMINEES; CALLS FOR PUBLIC INTERVIEWS
FOR THEM

"We urge PGMA to issue marching orders for the search committee of the next Comelec chairman to make the process more transparent, ensuring the broadest participation of citizens in the search."--KIKO

Senate Majority Leader and Independent senator Kiko Pangilinan today urged President Gloria Arroyo to direct that the search committee for the next Commission on Elections (Comelec) chairman be made public and transparent, including the disclosure of the final list of nominees.

"We urge PGMA to issue marching orders for the search committee of the next Comelec chairman to make the process more transparent, ensuring the broadest participation of citizens in the search," Kiko said.

Kiko stressed, "The public should be informed of the names of the nominees submitted, and these candidates should be strictly scrutinized. The public must be asked to submit position papers for or against the nominees. Not only will it encourage participatory government, but it will likewise help the committee arrive at a credible decision."

Kiko added, "The prospective nominees should be subjected to public interviews for the purpose of determining the fitness and qualifications of the candidates. These nominees must make known their vision for the Comelec, their plans and proposals to modernize the election process, their stand regarding Lintang Bedol and cheating in Maguindanao and other crucial issues that affect the Comelec today. I for one would like to know what the future chair plans to do with the rotting counting machines from the illegal Mega Pacific deal. These are valid issues that need to be answered by those who seek the post of Comelec chair."

The Search Committee is headed by Bernardino Abes, who served as labor secretary, and later as Social Security System chairman under the administration of President Arroyo's father, the late President Diosdado Macapagal. Members of the committee include businessman and key player of the National Movement for Free Elections Jose Concepcion, newspaper columnist Carmen Pedrosa, former Finance Secretary Vicente Jayme, and Democrito Mendoza of the Trade Union Congress of the Philippines.

Kiko, likewise urged the media to participate in the process, "because we know how much more comprehensive information dissemination becomes when media organizations are involved."

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