MANILA, Philippines -- His name is synonymous with credibility, as one election lawyer put it. But can a 75-year-old retired Supreme Court justice restore the tattered reputation of the Commission on Elections?

?I was enjoying my retirement but when duty calls, you respond,? said Jose A.R. Melo as he prepared to report for duty at the beleaguered Comelec.

He does not think his age (75) should be an issue. ?Physically, I?m more than capable,? he said in Filipino.

Melo has served a total of 40 years in government service, beginning his government career as an executive assistant in the Malacañang legal office during the term of President Diosdado Macapagal, the President?s father.

He spent 23 years in the judiciary and was appointed associate justice of the Supreme Court in 1992, from which he retired in 2002.

Before his appointment to the high court, he served at the reorganized Court of Appeals from 1986 to 1992, and before that at the Intermediate Appellate Court.

As presiding justice of the Court of Appeals, he held the record for having a zero backlog of cases.

He was commissioner of the Civil Service Commission from 1975 to 1979.

Born in Pampanga, Melo took his law degree at the Manuel L. Quezon University in 1956. He finished his master of laws with the highest grade of ?meritissimus? at the University of Sto. Tomas in 1960.

He has been deluged with congratulatory calls on his appointment which was made by President Macapagal-Arroyo from Switzerland late Friday.

Melo said he was very happy to read about the President?s announcement but clarified that he had yet to receive his official appointment papers.

The former justice said he would need time to study the Comelec?s problems but, offhand, he said his primary goal in the poll body would be to implement election automation by 2010.

By and large, Melo was a popular choice, particularly with the election watchdog groups who said his credibility and integrity gave much hope the tarnished reputation of the poll agency would be revived.

?He will put a new face to the Comelec. It will not be associated with vote-buying and cheating,? said Henrietta de Villa, chair of the Parish Pastoral Council for Responsible Voting (PPCRV).

De Villa said Melo would bring a ?fresh approach,? particularly to the planned automation of elections.

Melo?s nomination was strongly supported by various election-reform groups such as the PPCRV, the Volunteers for Clean Elections (VforCE), National Citizens? Movement for Free Elections (Namfrel), and the Institute for Political and Electoral Reforms (IPER).

Former Comelec Chair Christian Monsod, who leads VforCE, said Melo got the nod of electoral reform advocates because of his good record in the judiciary.

?He has not been questioned at any time. He is a fair man and he is much in demand as an arbitrator,? said Monsod.

He said Melo?s performance as chair of the independent commission that probed the killing of militant activists and journalists, known as the Melo Commission, was similarly lauded for making the process transparent and for coming out with a forthright report.

Melo?s record in terms of integrity, competence and independence, as well as his capability as an arbitrator, put him ahead of other potential candidates for the post, Monsod said.

Despite concerns about his age, both Monsod and De Villa believe that Melo still has the energy for the work ahead.

?He may be 75, but he is a strong 75,? said Monsod.

?His political will to institute reforms is a strong factor for him to move beyond expectations,? said De Villa.

Comelec Commissioner Rene Sarmiento also welcomed the appointment of Melo, saying that his credentials both in his years at the high court and his service in the Melo Commission would be an asset at the Comelec.

?Aside from that, he is also politically savvy. He will help raise the credibility of the Comelec. Even the civil society groups support his appointment,? said Sarmiento.

From Davos, Switzerland, where she made the announcement of the appointment, the President said Melo was the best person to head the Comelec.

She said she picked Melo to replace Comelec Chair Benjamin Abalos Jr., who will retire on Feb. 1, because of his credibility.

?You see how credible he was in his Melo report. Everyone, even the UN [United Nations], took off from his report, and when we religiously carried out his recommendations, the unexplained killings went down by 83 percent in one year,? she told reporters.

?He?s a very, very credible person,? Ms Arroyo said.

Sergio Apostol, the President?s chief legal counsel, said the President hoped that the appointment of Melo would erase the public?s distrust of the Comelec.

?The appointment of Melo will unify our people. It will water down public distrust of the Comelec and this administration,? said Apostol in a phone interview.

He said that with his integrity, Melo could restore the credibility of Comelec, and his presence in the poll body would assure the opposition that the administration would not engage ?in cheating at election time.?

?He should work fast for the implementation of reforms, work honestly and ensure that justice will prevail,? said Apostol.

For the President?s election lawyer Romulo Macalintal, however, Melo lacks the experience of running an election body, which is a highly specialized field.

According to Macalintal, ?the justice?s name is credibility ... [but] from the looks of it, he has no experience in elections. He has not been an election lawyer. He has not been an expert in election matters.?

Opposition Sen. Panfilo Lacson said the President?s appointment of Melo and extension of the term of Armed Forces Chief of Staff Gen. Hermogenes Esperon showed Ms Arroyo was being held hostage by the personalities who were reportedly behind her allegedly tainted electoral victory in 2004.

?Both acts have one thing in common: Election cheating in 2004,? he said.

He said Melo was nominated by Abalos who headed the poll body during the 2004 presidential election.

Esperon was implicated in the so-called ?Hello Garci? scandal that raised the specter of alleged cheating during the 2004 elections, but he was cleared by a military fact-finding body.

Senate Minority Leader Aquilino Pimentel Jr. was bordering on indifferent.

?He?s [Melo] an old goat who probably can?t learn new tricks, which might be good in that he?s expected to know what laws apply to a given situation and how to apply them. We?ll see,? said Pimentel.

Sen. Manuel Roxas II, however, welcomed Melo?s appointment even as he opposed Esperon?s term extension, saying the latter would damage the morale of officers who are next in line.

He described Melo as competent, intelligent and a man of integrity.

?I am very confident that Justice Melo will uphold the same courage and professionalism [he showed] when he issued the report on extrajudicial killings,? Roxas said.

Senate Majority Leader Francis Pangilinan also welcomed Melo?s appointment.

?We wish him well and we hope he will succeed in restoring the much needed faith and trust in the Comelec whose image and reputation has been tarnished by scandal and controversy,? he said.

Adel Tamano, spokesperson for the United Opposition, opposed Melo?s appointment even though he said the retired justice was a close family friend whom he knew to be ?honest and competent.?

?His personal ties to Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo undermines the public?s perception of the Comelec as an independent body,? said Tamano.

?His actions as Comelec head will always be suspected to be done to favor GMA which only further destroys whatever is left of the Comelec?s credibility,? he added.

Overly solicitous of GMA

At the House, party-list Rep. Teodoro Casiño said Melo?s performance in the commission that looked into the extrajudicial killings showed that he was ?overly solicitous? toward the President.

?(He) arbitrarily and prematurely cleared her of any responsibility in the killings and abductions,? Casiño said. With reports from TJ Burgonio, Miclael Lim Ubac, Norman Bordadora and Dona Pazzibugan