President Rodrigo Duterte has appointed George Garcia, an election lawyer that has represented four of the 2022 presidential candidates including the dictator’s son Ferdinand Marcos Jr., as commissioner for the Commission on Elections (COMELEC) last Tuesday, March 8.
Garcia, who represented Marcos in his electoral protest against Vice President Leni Robredo, was part of the Isko Moreno campaign’s legal team until he resigned a day before his appointment. He also said that he represented two other presidential candidates: Senators Manny Pacquiao and Ping Lacson.
The appointment sparked fears of a conflict of interest for Garcia, especially considering his former client Marcos’s four unresolved cases.
As lead counsel for the Marcos heir’s electoral protests, Atty. Garcia once claimed that Robredo was part of a “well-funded concerted effort to undermine the Duterte administration,” saying that “Robredo’s video message on the alleged extra-judicial killings caused quite a stir amongst our patriotic countrymen.”
“Para sa akin naman that’s part of lawyering… But I will be inhibiting from all the cases that I handled… and number 2, ‘pag may mga kaso rin na palagay ko kahit di ko hina-handle ngayon, pero dahil naging clients ko before o nagkaroon ako ng relationship before in my professional capacity, I’m going to take no part,” Garcia said in response.
Acting presidential spokesperson Martin Andanar defended the appointment, saying that it was still the president’s prerogative and that Garcia was vetted before he got the post.
COMELEC spokesperson James Jimenez also tried to respond to the concerns. “We are confident the new appointees will be able to navigate that, act impartially, and fairly in all matters before them. If it happens there’s a possible conflict of interest, certainly, they will deal with that appropriately,” he said.
Garcia’s controversial appointment comes alongside two new COMELEC officials: former Department of Social Welfare and Development Undersecretary Aimee Torrefranca-Neri as fellow commissioner and former head of the National Commission on Muslim Filipinos Saidamen Balt Pangarungan as chairman.
All three appointments are ad-interim. While they will be able to exercise their functions immediately, they will only be confirmed to their posts once Congress is in session.
After the new appointments, all seven members of the poll body are now Duterte appointees. The other members are: Aimee Ferolino, Marlon Casquejo, Socorro Inting, and Rey Bulay.
Featured image courtesy of Angie de Silva
