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Uneven distribution of Comelec appointments bothers Drilon: Davao region has three, Luzon - 0

Philippines | National

Uneven distribution of Comelec appointments bothers Drilon: Davao region has three, Luzon - 0

By Mario Casayuran

Senate Minority Leader Franklin M. Drilon on Wednesday said yesterday there is an uneven distribution in the appointments of top Commission on Elections (Comelec) officials as there are five of the six commissioners coming from Mindanao.

Senator Franklin Drilon
(Senate of the Philippines / MANILA BULLETIN)

Luzon, which is the most populated among the country’s three main islands, has none while Visayas has one- Ma. Rowena Amelia V. Guanzon. The seventh post as commissioner is not still filled up.

There is an ‘’uneven representation,’’ Drilon lamented. Three of the five are residents of Davao, the home province of President Duterte while the two others are in other parts of Mindanao.

One of them is Comelec Chairman Sheriff M. Abas. Aside from Guanzon, the other Comelec commissioners are Socorro B. Inting, Marlon S. Casquejo, Antonio T. Kho Jr. and Aimee P. Ferolino-Ampoloquio.

Amploquio said Abas is from Cotabato while Kho is from Zamboanga. After being bypassed by the CA last year, the CA received from Malacanang Ampoloquio’s ad interim appointment last February 2.

The questioning of Ampoloquio on figures related to the number of voters-registrants will resume next week.

Senate Minority Leader Franklin M. Drilon lamented that he could not get a clear answer from her on the actual number voters-registrants and activation of voters delisted after failure to vote twice consecutively in the last elections.

The public hearing on the fitness of Ampoloquio to be a Comelec commissioner by the CA constitutional commissions committee chaired by Senator Cynthia A. Villar had to be suspended to give way to a public hearing on the appointments of 17 ranking Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) officers.

The determination of the fitness of the 17 AFP officers led by AFP Chief of Staff Lt, General Cirilito E. Sobejana who is nominated as a four-star general will resume next week.

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