MANILA, Philippines -- Senator Manuel Roxas II on Saturday welcomed the appointments of retired Supreme Court associate justice Jose Melo as chairman of the Commission on Elections (Comelec) and Army General Alexander Yano as the incoming Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP).

?I am very confident that Justice Melo will uphold the same courage and professionalism when he issued the report on extrajudicial killings and that General Yano will effectively remove the stigma of partisanship in the AFP,? he said in a statement e-mailed to news agencies.

The senator pointed out that the two appointments were the result of fruitful conversations between the executive branch and civil society and based on the credibility and qualifications of the two appointees.

?As champions of human rights, both Chairman Melo and AFP Chief of Staff Yano will play a key role in preparing for honest, clean and peaceful elections in 2010,? Roxas added.

At the same time, the Liberal Party president said he is against the extension of AFP Chief of Staff Hermogenes Esperon for a few more months. ?It damages morale and undermines efforts to professionalize the military. Effectively, the President is saying that she trusts only him to hold the reins of power now, that the state?s security is dependent on his continuing on.?

Roxas said that ever since the martial law years, extensions of generals? tour of duty have acquired the stigma of politics.

?If the reason for extension is a destabilization threat, it may even aggravate such threat rather than contain it?An extension projects an AFP that lacks a pool of professional leaders at the top,? he said.