Easy way out of accountability questions EDITORIAL 08/10/2010

Easy way out of accountability questions

EDITORIAL Click to enlarge 08/10/2010 Poll Commissioner Rene Sarmiento, a nominee for the post of Supreme Court (SC) associate justice, who faces criminal and administrative charges related to alleged election irregularities during the 2010 automated elections, lodged before the Ombudsman by the Philippine Computer Society, has asked the Ombudsman to dismiss the charges. He says that being an impeachable officer, the Ombudsman has no jurisdiction over his case. Sarmiento, who wants to be named SC associate justice, can’t get the nod of the Judicial and Bar Council (JBC) as the rules say that a nominee, or candidate for that high court post gets disqualified due to pending criminal charges filed against him. But there is a problem in the case of Sarmiento in this specific instance. While he may be an impeachable officer, and the case against him is dropped on account of his constitutional status, it must also be evident that if he gets the post, he will virtually no longer have to account for his alleged election irregularities, along of course with his co-accused, the rest of the Commission on Elections (Comelec) commissioners and other officers..... MORE Source:  The Daily Tribune URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/commentary/20100810com1.html

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