Sixto S. Brillantes Jr. was 80 when he passed away today, at 11:08 in the morning. He’d been battling COVID for several days and, well, now he’s resting. He would have turned 81 on August 14.
Before he even became Chairman of the COMELEC, Brillantes had been one of the country’s most successful and well-known election lawyers. Between him and Romy Macalintal, the two had a virtual monopoly on election lawyering and – which is probably more important – the public perception of what an election lawyer was like.
With his full head of silver hair, by turns gruff and charismatic, Brillantes cut an imposing figure in the political community. And he brought that reputation with him when he joined the COMELEC as Chairman on January 16, 2011, taking the place of Justice Jose Melo. n taking on the role of Chairman, Brillantes assumed the massive task of ensuring that the gains of the 2010 elections would not be lost. As a matter of record, the 2013 polls – which Brillantes oversaw – were also automated, as were the 2016 elections. The man did his job.
He retired February 2 – three months before the Presidential elections of 2016. And today, sadly, I had to write his obit. Look.
