Former Isabela governor Grace Padaca will make a great addition to the Commission on Elections, the poll chief said Tuesday, following the appointment issued by President Benigno Aquino III.
Comelec chairman Sixto Brillantes Jr., in a statement, welcomed Padaca to the Comelec and praised her for "untarnished integrity and her impeccable record in public service."
Padaca will be replacing Augusto Lagman, who left the Comelec in April.
Padaca, who had polio when she was younger and crippled her walking ability , was a broadcaster in Isabela province before joining politics. She was governor of Isabela province from 2004 to 2010 and is a co-founder of Kaya Natin! Movement for Good Governance and Ethical Leadership.
She has won the Ramon Magsaysay Award for Government Service, the U.S. Department of State Woman of Courage award, the Benigno Aquino Jr. Fellowships for Professional Development award, and the First CEO Excel Award.
Despite the welcome from the Comelec commissioner, Padaca has to hurdle confirmation hearings
before the Commission on Appointments, as well as potential questions on her appointment.
Under the Constitution, one "must not have been candidates for any elective positions in the immediately preceding elections."
Padaca ran, but lost, against Governor Faustion Dy III in the 2010 elections. Brillantes said in a
television interview, however, that it can be argued that the barangay elections in late 2010 were
the latest.
The President has also written the Commission on Appointments saying Padaca's early confirmation
would be "highly appreciated."
If confirmed, Padaca will serve as commissioner until February 2018.
Twelve people were killed in the Philippines on Saturday as troops clashed with a militant group blamed for the country's deadliest terror attacks, the military said.
