Duterte taps Manila prosecutor Rey Bulay as Comelec commissioner
MANILA, Philippines — President Rodrigo Duterte has nominated Manila's chief prosecutor Rey Bulay, his fraternity brother, to serve as Commission on Elections commissioner, Malacañang announced Thursday.
Presidential spokesman Harry Roque in a statement said Bulay's term would be until February 2, 2027 if he clears the congressional Commission on Appointments.
"We are confident that [Attorney] Bulay will ensure the conduct of honest, orderly, credible and peaceful elections," Roque said. "We wish [Attorney] Bulay all the best in his new assignment."
Like Duterte, Bulay is a graduate of San Beda Law and a member of Lex Talionis Fraternitas. He is the second frat brother that the president has appointed to the Comelec after former Justice Undersecretary Antonio Kho Jr.
Duterte appointed Bulay as chief prosecutor of Manila in July 2020.
Prior to this, he served as a commissioner at the Presidential Commission on Good Government — a body tasked with recovering the ill-gotten wealth of ousted dictator Ferdinand Marcos, his family and of his cronies.
Bulay's appointment comes amid the filing of a petition against the presidential candidacy of the dictator's son, former Sen. Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr., by several groups.
Public vetting of commissioners urged
There are three other vacancies that Duterte must fill before his term expires which means that the president's appointees will constitute a majority of the poll body’s members ahead of the 2022 elections.
Comelec Chairman Sheriff Abas is set to retire in February 2022 – three months before the elections – along with Commissioners Rowena Guanzon and Kho.
Former Comelec chairman Christian Monsod, also a Framer of the 1987 Constitution, last month urged that the vetting process to fill the top posts be broadcast live for transparency.
For Monsod, in the four months leading up to the elections and the month that follows, Comelec can be considered the country's most powerful agency and its chairman the most powerful public official. Within this period, he stressed, not even the president has the power to intervene with the poll body.
"What are the implications and what are the undesirable consequences of putting the wrong persons there?" Monsod said. "[The public] must understand that [Comelec] is a very powerful agency of the government for about 150 days and a lot of things can happen there."
— Bella Perez-Rubio with reports from The STAR/Alexis Romero, Robertzon Ramirez
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