ELECTIONS Commissioner Rowena Guanzon said Wednesday she would ask the Commission on Elections en banc to review the rules on trips by members of the poll body, after she criticized Comelec Chairman Andres Bautista for leaving for a vacation in Japan without a travel authority.
Guanzon’s call came as Bautista said he was willing to sit down with the six other commissioners to discuss issues they raised against him in a memo that accused him of a “failure of leadership.”
“I will write a request today for a review of our travel policy [for] the en banc meeting next Tuesday,” Guanzon told the reporters, noting that Bautista had approved his own trip.
“This is so that we can avoid such instances like now where we have these misunderstandings and humiliations,” she said.
Aside from the appeal to investigate the legitimacy of Bautista’s travel, Guanzon said she will also urge her colleagues to return to the previous policy where all remaining members of the seven-man en banc will sign the travel authority of the poll chief.
“During the time of Chairman [Jose] Melo and [Sixto] Brillantes, the travel policy was like that… so we should just go back to that rule, where it is the en banc that will sign the travel authority,” Guanzon said.
“We can also meet halfway. How about the travel authority only needing to be signed by the majority, which is four members. That is acceptable I think,” she added.
On Thursday, the poll chief left the country to accompany his son to Tokyo, Japan and returned last Sunday, claiming that his personal trip was approved by himself.
Bautista’s trip came at a time when the six commissioners issued a memorandum accusing him of incompetence.
A source told The Standard that even before the elections, the six commissioners had sought an executive session with Bautista to discuss their problems, but the chairman consistently refused to meet them.
The source added that Bautista was playing the role of the victim, being ganged up on by his colleagues.
Guanzon earlier said they had held back their concerns and grievances against Bautista to give way to the successful conduct of the May 9 elections.
She also said that it took them more than a month to raise these concerns because Bautista continuously refused to deal with all the issues even before the elections.
In a separate interview, Bautista said he is now willing to sit down with his colleagues in the en banc and discuss on the issues raised in their memo.
He said he was willing to do this if his colleagues observe “courtesy and respect.”
“Anytime, I am ready to meet them as long as there is courtesy and respect… If there is anyone who wants to meet with me, they are welcome,” Bautista told the reporters.
“I already told them that if we meet, I don’t want to see shouting and disrespect just like what happens sometimes. That is not right. I told them we should have courtesy and respect to one another, not only to fellow commissioners but also to senior staff. We should treat each other with respect,” he added.
He also said that he in fact already met with some members of the commission regarding the issues raised in the memo.
“We had a good talk with some commissioners… I am asking their advice on how to move forward,” the poll chief said.
He also said he has already showed some commissioners his draft written response to the memo, which raised at least 15 issues.
“I showed them my answers to the memo and they said they will study it,” he revealed.
