Noy: 8 to 10 contenders for 2 Comelec commissioner slots

ILOILO CITY, Philippines – Eight to 10 persons are vying for the two slots that will be vacated by two retiring commissioners of the Commission on Elections (Comelec), President Aquino disclosed here yesterday.

“There are 8 to 10 names for the two positions in Comelec,” he told reporters at the provincial capitol here.

Aquino refused to say who are the candidates that would replace Commissioners Rene Sarmiento and Armando Velasco, who have both completed their seven-year terms.

Malacañang reassured the public earlier that the retirement of the two commissioners would not affect preparations for the May 13 elections.

Deputy presidential spokesperson Abigail Valte said President Aquino wants new commissioners who could help ensure clean polls.

Comelec Chairman Sixto Brillantes Jr. said he plans to take Sarmiento and Velasco on as consultants to the poll body, where they can sit in during the en banc sessions but cannot vote.

With the retirement of the two, the Comelec’s remaining commissioners include Lucenito Tagle, Elias Yusoph, Christian Robert Lim, and Grace Padaca.

Valte said there is a short list of possible replacements even as Aquino wants to make sure the replacements carry out the mandate of the Comelec as specified by the 1987 Constitution.

“The primordial mandate of the Comelec is to ensure honest, clean and peaceful elections. The President will look at their ability to carry out that mandate,” she said.