Inting to sit as interim Comelec chairman starting Feb. 3 — Guanzon

Comelec Commissioner Socorro Inting will serve as the poll body’s interim chairperson starting February 3, Commissioner Rowena Guanzon said Monday.

“Commissioner Socorro Inting , most senior [commissioner] on February 3, will be Acting Chair @COMELEC while [President Rodrigo Roa Duterte] has not appointed a chair,” Guanzon said in a tweet.

Guanzon, Comelec chairperson Sheriff Abas and Commissioner Antonio Kho Jr. are set to retire on February 2.

After their retirement, the en banc will be left with Commissioners Marlon Casquejo, Inting, Aimee Ferolino, and Rey Bulay. 

Earlier, Comelec spokesperson James Jimenez admitted that the changes in the roster of poll commissioners in the middle of the preparations for the May 9 polls would be a challenge.

He also emphasized the need for Duterte to appoint three new poll commissioners.

“It is very important [to appoint new commissioners] because with three commissioners gone, we will end with four commissioners left and that’s just basically the quorum, which means that none of the commissioners, under that situation, can afford to be absent or can afford to do other things so medyo challenging talaga (that’s really quite challenging),” he said. — Hana Bordey/RSJ, GMA News