Ex-Comelec chief Melo passes away

MANILA, Philippines — Former Commission on Elections chairman Jose Melo died on Sunday. He was 88.

“Sad news. Just received word that chairman Jose Melo passed away,” Comelec spokesman James Jimenez said on Twitter.

Melo served as Supreme Court justice before he was named Comelec chief in 2008.

He supervised the country’s transition to full automated elections from 2008 to 2010.

Workers condoled with the family of Melo, whom they remembered as an “excellent jurist for defending the rights of ordinary citizens.”

Federation of Free Workers president Sonny Matula said Melo led the commission that investigated the killings of trade union leaders and media workers during the term of former president Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.

Melo resigned from his post in January 2011. He was replaced by former Comelec chairman Sixto Brillantes, who succumbed to COVID-19 recently.