Comelec names acting chairperson after CA bypass

THE COMMISSION on Elections (Comelec) has named its acting chief after lawmakers last week bypassed the appointment of its chairman by President Rodrigo R. Duterte.

Election Commissioner Socorro B. Inting would serve as the acting chairperson, Comelec Director Frances A. Arabe told reporters in a Viber message on Wednesday.

The Commission on Appointments (CA) bypassed the appointment of former Comelec Chairman Saidamen B. Pangarungan and Election Commissioners George Erwin M. Garcia, and Aimee S. Torrefranca-Neri in the absence of a quorum.

Lawmakers said incoming President Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr. should be the one to appoint the new heads of constitutional commissions and other government bodies, not Mr. Duterte.

Ms. Inting served as election body chief from February to March after three commissioners and its chairman retired.

She was a member of the Second Division, which favored President-elect Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr. in a lawsuit seeking to bar his presidential run.

Before her stint at Comelec, she was an appellate court justice for nine years. She was also the head of the Comelec gun ban committee.

Comelec has six members and one chairman. Its two divisions have three members each. Decisions issued by the two divisions are eventually appealed to the seven-member en banc. Comelec is now left with four commissioners until President-elect Ferdinand “Bongbong” R. Marcos Jr. appoints replacements. — J.V.D. Ordoñez