Malacañang on Tuesday said President Rodrigo Duterte would meet the deadline in naming the new officials to fill in vacant seats at the Commission on Elections.
Cabinet Secretary Karlo Nograles made the statement as the poll body remains without a chairman and two poll commissioners following the mandatory retirement of chairperson Sheriff Abas and commissioners Antonio Kho Jr. and Rowena Guanzon on February 2.
“The President is mindful of the deadlines, the legal and lawful deadlines for the appointment of very important appointees to the Comelec. So, knowing the deadline and knowing that there’s a vetting process, let’s just wait for the President’s decision,” Nograles said.
He said Duterte “will make the appointments soon, beating the deadline.”
“Even I cannot give a definite timeline or answer as to a particular date and time,” Nograles said.
The Palace earlier announced that Duterte already has a shortlist of possible appointees who will replace the three Comelec officials.
For its part, election watchdog National Citizens’ Movement for Free Elections (Namfrel) urged Duterte to make the vetting process as transparent as possible.
All the remaining four commissioners are appointees of Duterte.
“A transparent appointment process, with focus on qualifications and suitability for the job, will help dispel concerns that the Comelec as a constitutional body will be composed of individuals that only come from the President’s hometown, or who are inside the President’s inner circle,” Namfrel said in a statement.
“Namfrel enjoins President Rodrigo R. Duterte to make public short listed candidates, and to invite ordinary citizens to present comments, inputs, and personal information on the candidates, before the Office of the President makes the final decision on the appointments,” it added.