Poll official inhibits self

Comelec Commissioner George Garcia speaks to the member of the press. John Eric Mendoza/INQUIRER.net

MANILA, Philippines — Newly appointed Elections Commissioner George Garcia said he has inhibited from around 300 pending Commission on Elections (Comelec) cases that he handled before his appointment.

“No one has to file anything or to convince me. It’s only right that [an election lawyer] like me should have ethical considerations,” he said in a phone interview on Thursday.

300 cases

“This is voluntary. Right at the start, I said I’m going to inhibit in all cases that I handle,” he continued.

He said he was handling “more or less 300” election-related cases pending with Comelec, excluding the election protest cases of his clients before the Supreme Court and election tribunals.

Garcia’s former clients include presidential candidates former Sen. Ferdinand Marcos Jr., Manila Mayor Francisco “Isko Moreno” Domagoso, and Senators Manny Pacquiao and Panfilo Lacson.

Marcos is facing five cases in the Comelec opposing his candidacy due to his 1995 tax evasion conviction.

Four of these cases have been dismissed by the poll body’s two divisions. The ruling in these cases has been appealed before the commission as a whole.

Garcia was appointed this week by President Rodrigo Duterte along with Comelec Chair Saidamen Pangarungan and Commissioner Aimee Neri to fill the vacancies in the seven-member commission.

They will serve a seven-year term.

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