MANILA–Commission on Elections (Comelec) Commissioner Marlon Casquejo and several foreign service and military officers hurdled the Commission on Appointments (CA) on Wednesday.
Casquejo is heading the Steering Committee for the 2018 midterm elections. Prior to his appointment, Casquejo was the Assistant Regional Election Director (ARED) of the Davao Region.
During the CA committee hearing, Casquejo vowed before the panel he will ensure that the election process will be transparent.
To date, he said Comelec is enhancing its vote counting machines, one on the aspect of the printing of the voting receipts.
“Although it was implemented in 2016, we added a feature in the voter’s receipt, also in the clustered precincts,” he said.
“In our transmission, we already have negotiations with the Department of Information and Communications Technology as to the digital signatures of the election inspectors, so that is to make sure that the one transmitting from the precinct level going to the canvassing level will be the BEI (Board of Election Inspectors) itself,” he added.
At the plenary level, the CA Committee on Constitutional Commissions and Offices lauded Casquejo for long service in the government.
“He rose from the ranks and keeps a low-profile and works his heart out without expecting recognition and credits for his initiatives,” Representative Seth Frederick Jalosjos said as he read the sponsorship speech of committee chair Senator Cynthia Villar.
A total of 52 general/flag and senior defense officers, as well as the 39 foreign service officials and officers, were also confirmed by the bicameral body,
One of the foreign service officials confirmed was Ma. Hellen dela Vega, who will assume the role as the Philippine Ambassador to Australia, with concurrent jurisdiction over the Republic of Nauru, Vanuatu, and Tuvalu.
In his sponsorship speech, Senator Panfilo Lacson, chairman to the CA Committee on Foreign Affairs, cited the envoy’s “exemplary service and broad experience in the foreign service,” having been a recipient of the Order of Sikatuna Award with the Rank of Datu this year.
“Our nominee has 36 years of experience in the foreign service, having started her diplomatic career in 1982 as a research clerk at the American Division Office under the Department of Foreign Affairs,” he said.
“She later held relevant posts at the Philippine Embassies and Consulates in Los Angeles, California U.S.A.; Myanmar; Beijing, People’s Republic of China; Tokyo, Japan; Madrid, Spain; and, most recently, Jakarta, Indonesia,” he added. (Joyce Ann L. Rocamora/PNA)
