New Comelec commissioner is Iqbal nephew

ZAMBOANGA CITY—Sheriff Abbas, one of the newly appointed commissioners at the Commission on Election (Comelec), is a nephew of Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) chief negotiator Mohagher Iqbal.

“He is a nephew of Mohagher Iqbal; he is a son of one of Iqbal’s siblings,” according to Raissa Jajurie, a lawyer and program coordinator of the Alternative Legal Assistance Center.

Abbas, 36, is a graduate of the Ateneo de Davao University and was the chief legal officer of the Civil Service Commission based in Cotabato at the time of his appointment.

Gov. Mujiv Hataman of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) said Abbas served in the Bangsamoro Transition Commission.

Hataman said he only met Abbas once “and he appeared to me to be a very eloquent person, mahusay siyang magsalita (he talks well).”

Rey Sumalipao, the regional election director of the ARMM, said he barely knew Abbas.

He said what he knew was that the new commissioner hailed from Maguindanao.

Lawyer Vidzfar Julie, election director for Sulu, said he had no information about Abbas.–Julie Alipala