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Comelec 'badly' needs its 2 commissioners - Garcia

Philippines | National

Comelec 'badly' needs its 2 commissioners - Garcia

By Dhel Nazario

The Commission on Elections (Comelec) "badly" needs its two commissioners, Comelec Commissioner George Erwin Garcia said on Friday, Sept. 30, after the Commission on Appointments (CA) bypassed the ad interim appointment of Commissioner Nelson Celis.

Comelec Chairman George Garcia (Ali Vicoy/MB)

"To fill up the vacant positions is to complete the transformation process - the institutional and structural reforms that need urgent attention," Garcia said in a text to reporters.

"Expeditious case resolution and disposition is certainly one of these. We need our two comms badly," he added.

However, Garcia mentioned that they devised a system to declog their dockets. As a result, almost 75 percent of pending cases have been disposed of in two months.

When asked if Comelec will ask MalacaÃ±ang to issue an ad interim appointment, before Congress resumes its session on November 7, Garcia stated that they could only hope it will happen. He added that immediate assumption certainly would help.

Asked if he will formally make a request to MalacaÃ±ang, he stated: "No po. We cannot do that. It's an absolute prerogative of the appointing authority."

Celis was nominated last August by MalacaÃ±ang as Comelec Commissioner to serve the unexpired term of former Commissioner Aimee Neri until February 2029. He is a veteran Information Technology Expert Practitioner and Academician.

Currently, Comelec is composed of Garcia, together with Commissioners Socorro B. Inting, Marlon S. Casquejo, Aimee P. Ferolino, and Rey E. Bulay.

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