Roxas Comelec officer kicked out of office
ROXAS CITY – Atty. Genalin A. Jimenez, officer-in-charge (OIC) of Commission on Elections (Comelec) here, has been relieved from office. This was announced by Comelec Regional Director Dennis Ausan in an interview over local radio here.
Ausan said that Atty. Jimenez's contract as OIC Election Officer was not renewed by the Comelec en banc.
To recall, the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines (NUJP) - Capiz chapter filed an election complaint against Atty. Jimenez on May 14, 2007 national and local elections when she, in violation of the people's constitutional right to be informed on matters of public concern (Art III, sec 7), prohibited the media to enter the canvassing room to cover what was happening inside. She said she was, simply, not comfortable with the camera, the lights, the tape recorders and all instruments used by the journalists and that the "unruly" behavior of the journalists would disrupt the proceedings.
The media, in an attempt to convince her, explained the fourth estate's role in ensuring transparency and cited the constitutional provision found in Art III Sec. 7. To this, however, Jimenez, a lawyer, said: "I do not care with your constitution, you can attack me if you want, anyway all media people are like that…"
Joseph Silvias, the vice president of NUJP-Capiz and assistant station manager of dyOW Bombo Radyo, said that they are not happy of Jimenez losing her job. "Nevertheless, the Comelec's decision is out, and all we have to do is to get lessons from this experience. Public officials entrusted with public duties should not abuse their authority. They should always be reminded that with great power comes great responsibility," Silvias added.
Atty. Wil Arceno, the Provincial Election Officer whose recommendation was made the basis of the non-renewal of Jimenez's contract, was not available for comment as of press time as he has been assigned to Mindanao as a member of a six-man team from Western Visayas for the upcoming ARMM election.
Atty. Jimenez is also out of media's reach as of press time.