Doubts cast a pall of cloud over Larrazabal’s appointment

By Marie Surbano

10/16/2009

Newly confirmed commis-sioner of the Commission on Elections Gregorio Larrazabal yesterday vowed to remain apolitical and non-partisan, but this early rumors were rife that his fast rise from regional director to commissioner in just about 20 months suggested that he had something “special” to do in the conduct of the May 2010 presidential elections.

Larrazabal, who at 38 is the Comelec’s youngest member, himself acknowledged the lingering doubts surrounding his appointment. And at a press briefing yesterday, he tried to disabuse the mind of his critics and said: “People fail to realize that before I was appointed as commissioner, I was the Regional Election Director (RED) in Region 8. And I’m currently still the president of the Comelec RED Organization of the Philippines. My presence here represents all regional directors.”

Comelec Chairman Jose Melo swore Larrazabal and another commissioner, Elias Yusoph, into office after the powerful Commission on Appointments confirmed their appointments to the poll body.

Yusoph, a former Marawi city prosecutor, will serve as Comelec commissioner until Feb. 2, 2015.Larrazabal will serve until Feb. 2, 2011. Their appointments now complete the seven-man en banc composition of the poll body.

Comelec insiders were taken by surprise by Larrazabal’s meteoric rise to the Comelec hierarchy since he joined the poll body in 2004, given that there were more senior and more qualified career officials who should have been promoted to the commissioner’s post. “(Comelec) people were groping after the right answer to nagging questions about his (Larrazabal’s) appointment,” said a source who did want not to be identified so he could speak freely about the sentiments of fellow employees.

A closer look at Larrazabal’s curriculum vitae revealed his fast rise up the Comelec ladder:

Larrazabal entered Comelec as provincial elections supervisor of Bulacan on February 2004 and served that post until January 2008.

But from April 2007 to June 2007, during the holding of the mid-term elections, he served as acting regional director for Region 5 or the Bicol Region.

Also during those dates, from May 2007 to June 2007, Larrazabal served as acting provincial election supervisor in Camarines Sur, wherein President Arroyo’s youngest son Diosdado Macapagal-Arroyo, ran and won a congressional seat.

Until his appointment as Comelec Commissioner, Larrazabal served as regional election director for Region 8 or Eastern Visayas region starting from February 2008.

Larrazabal is also the youngest commissioner appointed at the Comelec at age 38. A provision in the Comelec states that a commissioner of the Comelec should be at least 35 years old at the time of his appointment.

Some hush reports circulating in the Comelec pointed to Leyte Rep. Martin Romualdez as Larrazabal’s political patron, which could not be immediately confirmed. Romualdez, it is recalled, is the lawmaker who allegedly footed the P1-million bill for a lavish dinner that Mrs. Arroyo and company had at the posh New York restaurant, Le Cirque, after her recent talks with US President Barack Obama.

At the press briefing, Yusoph and Larrazabal vowed to help ensure the success of the first automated elections in the country.

“We intend to implement the automation law and we need the help of the Filipino people to have a clean, credible and honest election,” Yusoph said.

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