Comelec gets new commissioner from within ranks

MANILA, Philippines — President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has appointed Ma. Norina Tangaro-Casingal, director of the Commission on Elections' law department, as the poll body's new commissioner — heeding the Comelec chairperson's call to fill vacancies with "insiders" ahead of the elections.

Comelec Chairman George Garcia announced Tangaro-Casingal's ad interim appointment on Monday, February 10. She replaces former commissioner Socorro Inting who retired after completing her seven-year term on February 2. 

Tangaro-Casingal has led the poll body's law department since 2016 and has served the poll body since 1998.

"The president’s choice is an insider. [Tangaro-Casingal] has long been the director of the Law Department. She has also been with Comelec for a long time," Garcia said in mixed English and Filipino. 

Garcia added that the president's decision to appoint a career official as the new commissioner is a "recognition" of the skills and competence of Comelec officials.

The Comelec chairperson earlier urged the president to appoint "insiders" — or officials already working in the Comelec — to replace its two retiring commissioners due to the timeframe of having elections in three months. 

The poll body is still waiting for a replacement for former Comelec Commissioner Marlon Casquejo, who also retired on February 2.

Tangaro-Casingal now be one of three commissioners in the Comelec's First Division. The two others are Commissioners Aimee Ferolino and Ernesto Ferdinand Maceda Jr.

Her term will expire on February 2, 2032, according to the appointment paper signed by Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin.