Drilon sees disproportionate representation in Comelec

Senate Minority Leader Franklin Drilon on Wednesdsay said that there was an uneven representation in the Commission on Elections with five of its six members all from Mindanao.

During a hearing of the Commission on Appoinments, ad interim appointee Comelec Commissioner Aimee Ferolino Ampoloquio said that there were five commissioners from Mindanao, including three from President Rodrigo Duterte's hometown Davao City.

“There is an uneven representation here. By any language, it is disproportionate distribution of slots for commissioners," Drilon said.

Nevertheless, Drilon admitted that the Constitution does not require equal representation in the Comelec commissioners.

"But this discretion, to my mind, should not be abused,” he added.

The 2022 election is scheduled for May 9 next year.

The only Comelec member who is from outside Mindanao is Commissioner Rowena Guanzon of Negros Occidental in the Visayas.

Comelec chairman Sheriff Abas  was a lawyer and acting Assistant Regional Director of the Civil Service Commission in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao before his appointment to the Comelec in 2015.

Abas is the first Comelec chairman from Mindanao.

Commissioners Socorro Inting, Marlon Casquejo, and Ampoloquio are all from Davao City. Commissioner Antonio T. Kho Jr. hails from Zamboanga City.-NB, GMA News