Ernesto Maceda Jr. appointed Comelec commissioner
MANILA, Philippines — Ernesto Maceda Jr. has been appointed to the Commission on Elections, completing the seven-member poll body.
Maceda Jr. is one of the children of Ernesto Maceda, who served as Senate president and as ambassador to the United States. The elder Maceda was also secretary of commerce and industry under the current president's father.
Maceda Jr., who is also a columnist for The STAR, will be taking the post vacated by Comelec Chairman George Garcia. Comelec on Thursday said it received Maceda’s appointment papers and commissioner Nelson Java Celis’ documents for his reappointment. Celis was earlier bypassed by the congressional Commission on Appointments.
The two join the roster of the poll body's commissioners with Socorro Inting, Marlon Casquejo, Aimee Ferolino, Rey Bulay, and Garcia.
"I look forward to working with Commissioner Maceda [Jr.] who is a veteran election lawyer and election law professor," Garcia said in a statement on Thursday.
"We are confident that we will have a staunch ally in the discharge of the Comelec’s bounden duty as guardian of the sovereign will," he added.
Maceda Jr. and Celis will take their oath before Garcia on Monday.
As a law professor in multiple law schools, Maceda Jr. taught election law, administrative law, public officers, public corporations and constitutional law subjects.
He was also president and chairman of the board of the Philippine Association of Law Schools, executive vice president at the Pamantasan ng Lungsod ng Maynila, and university president of Universidad de Manila.
Maceda Jr. is also a partner at MACEDALAW, practicing election law.
"I am humbled to be entrusted with the crucial duties and responsibilities of the Office of the Commissioner," Maceda Jr. said in a separate statement.
"The first principle of democracy is that sovereignty resides in the people and all government authority emanates from them. As guardian of the sovereign will, the [Comelec] fulfills this task by ensuring that electoral process is free, fair, credible and honest, orderly and peaceful, informed and meaningful."
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