MANILA, Philippines -- A day after being appointed as commissioners of the Commission on Elections by President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, retired Court of Appeals Justice Lucenito Tagle and Malabon regional trial court judge Leonardo Leonida have taken their oaths.
Comelec chairman Jose Melo administered the oaths to Tagle and Leonida around 9:30 a.m. Thursday.
Tagle and Leonida said they were eager to help the other officials, especially in the Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao elections in August.
The new appointments filled up two of the three vacant posts in the electoral body after commissioners Resurrection Borra and Florentino Tuazon retired and Romeo Brawner died.
Meanwhile, Comelec spokesman James Jimenez told INQUIRER.net in a phone interview that the poll body was “very happy” over the appointments and cited the “urgent need,” especially with the upcoming August 11 elections in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM).
He added that Melo expected Tagle and Leonida to immerse themselves soon in their work.
Tagle and Leonida are scheduled to go to Mindanao next week to “assist in the preparation for the ARMM elections,” Jimenez said.
Both commissioners have not been assigned yet to the provinces where they will serve as commissioners-in-charge because the matter is still under discussion although an announcement is expected within the week, Jimenez said.
Jimenez said the Comelec was “always hopeful” that the President would appoint another commissioner soon.
The forthcoming ARMM election is the first automated elections in the Philippines. It will also serve as a “dry-run” for the automation of the 2010 national elections, Commissioner Rene Sarmiento said.
The Comelec will be using two new technologies, the Optical Mark Reader (OMR) and the Direct Recording Electronic (DRE) for the ARMM elections.
The OMR requires the voters to fill-out paper ballots which will be fed into a specially-designed machine similar to a scanner. It will be used in the provinces of Lanao del Sur, Basilan, Tawi-Tawi, Sulu, and Shariff Kabunsuan.
The DRE will make use of touch-pad and touch-screen technology. It will be used in Maguindanao.
