Benjamin Abalos resigns as chair of the Commission on Elections effective immediately, in the aftermath of the Senate hearings on the National Broadband Network-ZTE Corp. deal, where two individuals accused him of bribery. He says that his resignation is not an admission of guilt.

Now that he has resigned, the snow-balling impeachment attempt at the House is thwarted. Like in a game of pusoy dos, Abalos has defeated Jose de Venecia Jr.’s ace of spades with an ace of diamonds. Not only has he saved himself from a potential harassment (and saved his son’s political career in the process), he has made sure that the skeletons remain in the proverbial closet.

However, he also left an opening, however small it is.

The reason Comelec commissioners can only be forcibly removed from office by conviction in an impeachment court is that they share the same immunity that a president and a vice president have. This immunity is given to protect them from frivolous and/or harassment suits. However, once an impeachable officer resigns, retires,or is impeached, he/she loses that immunity. By resigning, Abalos will now have to face the music, so to speak.

This is a small opening for two reasons.

One, he has threatened to draw first blood by suing Jose de Venecia III and Romulo Neri. This is just a diversion, to muddle the issue. If ever filed and raffled off, these cases will be hard to try, since this is a he-said, he-said situation.

Second, offenses committed by public servants and officials are investigated by the Ombudsman. Based on the investigation, a case can be filed, with the Ombudsman acting as prosecutor. Given the current Ombudsman, do you think a case against Abalos will prosper? Until I see evidence to the contrary, in your dreams. (Want evidence? See here.)

As far as I am concerned, Abalos has decked de Venecia. But the equation remains unchanged, the NBN-ZTE deal remains questionable, and we are still being screwed by people with good intentions.

PS: Ben Abalos is one of the top candidates to head 2007 AWBHoldings.com’s Wall of Shame. If you think he deserves the honor, vote for him at the poll (at the right sidebar).