Manila Bulletin
New poll officials formally assume posts
President Rodrigo Duterte appointed Saidamen Balt Pangarungan as the new chairperson of the Commission on Elections (Comelec).
He will lead the poll body, which now has all seven members as appointees of President Duterte.
Duterte also appointed election lawyer George Garcia and Department of Social Welfare and Development undersecretary Aimee Torrefranca-Neri as new Comelec commissioners.
Pangarungan, formerly the chief of the National Commission on Muslim Filipinos, previously served as the governor of Lanao del Sur from 1988 to 1992.
Garcia previously handled the poll protest of former Senator Bongbong Marcos against Vice President Leni Robredo for the 2016 vice presidential race and served as a lawyer for the 2022 presidential bid of Manila Mayor Francisco "Isko Moreno" Domagoso.
Pangarungan is the second Comelec chair from Mindanao and the second Muslim, following Sheriff Abas who retired last February.
The newly appointed officials, including Chairman Pangarungan and Commissioners Neri and Garcia, have formally assumed their posts and participated in an en banc session on March 9.
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President Rodrigo Duterte defended his recent appointments of Saidamen Balt Pangarungan as Comelec chairperson and George Garcia and Aimee Torrefranca-Neri as commissioners.
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President Rodrigo Duterte has appointed veteran election lawyer George Garcia as a new commissioner of the Commission on Elections (Comelec).
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President Rodrigo Duterte has appointed National Commission on Muslim Filipinos (NCMF) Secretary Saidamen Pangarungan as the new chairman of the Commission on Elections (Comelec).
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Newly appointed Commission on Elections (Comelec) chairman Saidamen Pangarungan pledged to be an independent and conscientious "defender of democracy" and to uphold the "sanctity of vote and independence" of the poll body.
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Newly appointed Commission on Elections (Comelec) Commissioner George Garcia has formally inhibited himself from election cases involving his past clients, including presidential aspirant Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr.
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