New Comelec appointees should prioritize pending cases —ex poll commissioner Guia

The newly-appointed officials of the Commission on Elections (Comelec) should prioritize pending cases, especially those that need to be addressed before the May 9 elections, a former poll commissioner said Friday.

At the e-Leksyon forum, former commissioner Luie Guia said there are many pending cases.

"If there is something I think the new commissioners would have to do - of course, the assumption is they're prepared to be judges of election cases - perhaps they should look at reducing dockets," he said.

"Pero siguro tingin ko ang priority diyan, ang daming mga (I think the priority should be the) pending cases, especially those that are necessary, those that need to be resolved prior to the election," he later added.

Guia said the administrative work of the new commissioners is "already set."

"Kumbaga may compass na and it's just a question of implementing or executing the plans at this point in time," he said.

The new appointments include Saidamen Balt Pangarungan as ad interim chairperson as well as George Erwin Garcia and Aimee Torrefranca-Neri as ad interim commissioners.

For her part, former poll commissioner Rowena Guanzon said she believes President Rodrigo Duterte does not want the disqualification case to be in favor of former senator Ferdinand Marcos Jr., judging by the appointments.

"So if you look at the appointments, you analyze it, you think President Duterte wants to favor Bongbong Marcos in the Comelec? I don't think so. 'Cause (commissioner Aimee) Ferolino did that on her own," she said.—AOL, GMA News