Aquino names 2 new poll commissioners

PRESIDENT Benigno Aquino III named Thursday the two new commissioners of the Commission on Election (Comelec).

In an interview in Davao City, Aquino said that former ambassador Macabangkit Lanto and election lawyer Bernadette Sardillo will replace Rene Sarmiento and Armando Velasco who both retired as commissioners on February 2.

Lanto and Sardillo were chosen by the President out of the three nominees he interviewed recently.

Aquino said he already signed their appointment papers and these will be sent to Congress for their official confirmation.

Besides serving as the country's top diplomat in Egypt and some of the countries in the Middle East, Lanto held several portfolios in government including a stint at the Department of Justice as undersecretary.

"He has proven his worth, I believe, during times that he performed or tried to perform his function when the higher ups were preventing him from doing what should have been done," Aquino said of Lanto.

Sardillo, on the other hand, is an experienced election law practitioner who has "demonstrated her mettle in defending the rights of the citizenry" in several particular election contests, especially in the last electoral exercise, the President said.

Comelec Chairman Sixto Brillantes welcomed Thursday the appointment of the two new commissioners citing their good qualifications and extensive experience in government service.

Lanto and Sardillo will complete the seven-man en banc now composed of Brillantes, Lucenito Tagle, Elias Yusoph, Christian Lim, and Grace Padaca.

The two new commissioners are expected to report for work on Monday. (SDR/HDT/Sunnex)