COMELEC officials learn from GMA

If there one lesson Comelec officials could have learned from GMA, it is this:

When caught in the act, brazen it out.

GMA did so when caught in the act, on tape, micro-managing the cheating in Mindanao.She did it again when caught with her fingers on the ZTE pie.

With the help of an improbable rebellion charge, the Ampatuans are trying to do the same.

Comelec officials linked to the aborted contract to buy overpriced “ballot secrecy folders” at P380 each are taking the same tact.

Admit nothing. Give no quarters. The public has a short memory. Everything will soon be forgotten. Wait for the brouhaha to die down. It will soon be business as usual.

A culture that has gradually become worse among wrongdoers since GMA grabbed power is the culture of impunity.

And it is rooted in GMA’s power grab. That she could get away with it in violation of the constitution. That she could get caught planning a one-million vote padding operation, including the kidnapping of a minor election clerk, and get away with it. Caught on tape, her very own grating voice captured for posterity forever. What more evidence can a prosecutor ask for? But she got away with it. That’s impunity.

And that’s what keeps those Comelec grafters in their positions, despite having been caught in the act.