PPCRV picks leader

A FORMER election commissioner has been elected chair of the Parish Pastoral Council for Responsible Voting (PPCRV).

Rene Sarmiento will head the Church-backed poll watchdog group for the next six years, serving from Nov. 1, 2016, to Oct. 31, 2022.

Sarmiento was elected during PPCRV’s 176th general assembly last week. He served as Comelec chair from April 2006 to February 2013.

As PPCRV chair, he will oversee the watchdog’s operations in the 2019 and 2022 elections.

“Chair Sarmiento is not new to election exercises. His seven-year stint as Comelec commissioner covered both manual and automated election systems,” the PPCRV said in a statement.

He takes over from Henrietta de Villa who announced her retirement on May 3.

De Villa founded the PPCRV with the late Manila Archbishop Jaime Cardinal Sin in 1991 to carry out voter education and election monitoring activities. Julie M. Aurelio