Duterte appoints Sheriff Abas as new Comelec chief

President Rodrigo Duterte has appointed Commission on Elections (Comelec) Sheriff Abas as the new poll chief in replacement of Andres “Andy” Bautista. (Photo: Rowena V. Guanzon/Twitter)

President Rodrigo Duterte has appointed Commission on Elections (Comelec) Sheriff Abas as the new poll chief in replacement of Andres “Andy” Bautista.

According to the appointment paper signed on Wednesday, Abas, as the new Comelec chief, will serve until February 2, 2022, or what should have been the resigned election chief’s remaining term. Abas’ appointment paper was then released by Malacañang on Friday.

Bautista was impeached by the House of Representatives after his estranged wife, Patricia, disclosed the alleged unexplained wealth of the poll chief.

Abas’ appointment is subject to confirmation by the Commission on Appointments (CA).

Abasis the nephew of Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) leader Mohagher Iqbal. He has been appointed to the Comelec by former president Benigno Aquino III in 2015, and was confirmed by the CA a year later.

Before his appointment to the Comelec, Abas was a law professor. He worked as acting assistant regional director of the Civil Service Commission in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao from June 2007 until April 2015.

He completed his undergraduate degree in Philosophy at Notre Dame University, Cotabato City in 1999 and obtained his law degree from the Ateneo de Davao University in 2004.

Prior to Abas’ appointment, Commissioner Christian Robert Lim was named as acting chairman, following Bautista’s departure from the poll body. Bautista tendered his resignation which was supposedly effective by the end of the year but was accepted by the President in October.

Bautista’s resignation came after the House justice committee, with a vote of 19-2, officially dismissed an impeachment complained filed against him.