So the news broke late today, that COMELEC Chairman Sixto Brillantes Jr. has been getting death threats.
Not that this is entirely surprising.
Ever since he stepped foot in the COMELEC, the Chairman has been very vocal about his determination to clean up the institution. As they say, every basket will have some rotten eggs. Apparently, this Chairman has made those rotten eggs very uncomfortable. And a good thing too.
It is only fitting that, even as the COMELEC as a whole buckles down to eliminate fraud in elections, it should ensure that its own house is in order.
It is probably a gauge of how strongly he feels about this that the Chairman himself has said that, death threats or no, he isn’t about to back down.
Incidentally…
Death threats are not new to COMELEC. Commissioners – particularly Chairmen – have all received threats at one point or another. Other ranking COMELEC officials get them too. In fact, I’ve received reports that members of accredited citizen’s arms get death threats as well. Comes with the territory, we’ve learned to say. As the gallows humor goes, you’re not a full-fledged COMELEC official until you get a text message telling you your number is up.
Which is really a sad commentary on how politics are in this country.