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By Anthony A. Vargas, Reporter
A CHURCH backed poll-watch group on Tuesday
urged President Arroyo to fill up the remaining vacancies at the
Commission on Elections (Comelec) as the election for the Autonomous
Region for Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) draws nearer.
Amb. Henrietta de Villa, chairperson of the
Parish Pastoral Council for Responsible Voting (PPCRV), said it is
urgent for Malacañang to fill up the two remaining vacant slots at
the poll body.
“We believe it was high time for Malacañang
to come out with people that will fill up the vacancies at the [Comelec],”
de Villa said during a forum organized by the Catholic Bishops’
Conference of the Philippines (CBCP).
The PPCRV chairperson lamented that the panel,
formed by President Arroyo to choose two new commissioners, has yet
to give its recommendations.
De Villa said this is urgent “so that the
public will have the chance to evaluate their qualifications before
their names are submitted before the Commission on Appointments.”
The panel’s members, that included former
trade and industry secretary Jose Concepcion and ex-government
executive Vicente Jayme, had recommended former SC Associate Justice
Jose Melo as the Comelec chairman.
The PPCRV chairperson said the appointment of
two new commissioners at the poll body will complete the line-up of
the commission, now preparing for the ARMM Election in August.
“Given the huge task in connection with the
ARMM election, which we hope will be computerized, it is only proper
that the two vacancies should be filled and the volume of work
properly distributed,” de Villa said.
The PPCRV chairperson said Chairman Melo have
distributed ARMM’s six provinces, (Lanao del Sur, Basilan, Sulu,
Sharrif Kabunsuan, Tawi-Tawi and Maguindanao) to four poll
commissioners.
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