PRESIDENT Rodrigo Duterte on Friday has named an insider from the Commission on Elections as the new head of the poll body.
Commissioner Sheriff Abas replaces former Comelec chairman Andres Bautista, who resigned after his estranged wife publicly accused him of amassing ill-gotten wealth.
Abas’ appointment papers were signed Nov. 22 and he will serve the remainder of Bautista’s term until Feb. 2, 2022.
After Bautista left, Commissioner Christian Robert Lim was named the agency’s acting chairman.
Abas is a nephew of Moro Islamic Liberation Front chief negotiator Mahagher Iqbal. He is a law professor, and previously worked as acting assistant regional director of the Civil Service Commission in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao until his appointment to the Comelec in 2015.
The new Comelec chairman finished his undergraduate degree in philosophy
at Notre Dame University, Cotabato City, in 1999. He obtained his law degree from the Ateneo de Davao University in 2004.
Also on Nov. 22, Duterte named former solicitor general and Justice secretary Agnes Devanadera as the new chairperson of the Energy Regulatory Commission.
Devanadera, who first served under the Arroyo administration, will serve the remainder of the term of Jose Vicente Salazar, who was dismissed on corruption charges. The term expires in July 2022.
Devanadera served as solicitor general during the administration of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo. She also served as Arroyo’s acting Justice secretary when then Justice secretary Raul Gonzalez was on medical leave.
ERC officer-in-charge Alfred Non said the commissioners welcomed Devanadera’s appointment and said the industry would benefit from her extensive experience.
Also this week, former presidential spokesman Ernesto Abella appointed as undersecretary at the Department of Foreign Affairs, and will head a new communication office apart from the existing Office of Public Diplomacy.
“Undersecretary Abella will be in charge of strategic communications,” said DFA spokesman Robespierre Bolivar. He added that Abella could begin at any time since his appointment papers have already been issued.
Foreign Affairs Secretary Alan Peter Cayetano said Abella will be an asset to the DFA, as there is much work to be done in the international community and the Filipino communities around the world. With Sara Susanne D. Fabunan, Vito Barcelo