The newly appointed officials of the Commission on Elections (Comelec) have formally assumed their posts.

The poll body held a welcome ceremony for Comelec Chairman Saidamen Pangarungan, Commissioners Aimee Neri and George Garcia at the Comelec office in Intramuros, Manila on Wednesday, March 9.

Garcia however was not present in the event.

Hours before the ceremony, the three joined other commissioners in the en banc session.

"Today, we had an en banc where we had all commissioners physically present except Comm. Garcia who was present via zoom. So its safe to say that all commissioners and the chairman have already assumed office. They basically hit the ground running joining an en banc session the day after they took their oath of office," Comelec Spokesperson James Jimenez said in a press briefing.

During the ceremony, Chairman Pangarungan in his speech thanked President Duterte for the trust he bestowed upon him.

"I came here with the mission of further strengthening the Commission," he said.

"In all my past undertaking, I always bring the organization to the next level. I always aim to improve, reform, and elevate the level of service," added Pangarungan.

"We aim to strengthen this Commission so that we can perform our most important mandate and that is to preserve the integrity of the vote and the independence of this Commission," he said.

For her part, Neri vowed to repay the public by being truthful to the values and mandate of the Comelec.

"With that I can assure the Filipino people that they can repose their trust and confidence to the Commission most especially this 2022 election," she said.