2 poll commissioners to retire without replacement

President Benigno Aquino III has yet to decide on who would replace Commission on Elections (Comelec) commissioners Nicodemo Ferrer and Gregorio Larrazabal, who will retire on Wednesday. “Hindi pa siya nakakapili pero me kandidatong ilalagay. Hintayin lang... ilalabas na lang ang mga pangalan nila (The President has yet to pick their replacements. Just wait for their names to be released)," presidential spokesperson Edwin Lacierda said at a press briefing Tuesday. He said Aquino is “aware" of the vacancy and is “considering" some people to replace Ferrer and Larrazabal. He did not identify the possible candidates. In a text message to GMANews.TV, Comelec spokesman James Jimenez said the poll body is “confident" that the new commissioners will be named in “due time." “With no replacements being named yet, the Commission will continue to function collegially in as much as there remain four Commissioners and the Chairman. This comprises the majority of the Commission, and for the immediate future this will suffice," he said. Ferrer, 78, was recommended to the post by former Chief Justice Hilario Davide Jr., who had been named by former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo as presidential adviser on electoral reforms. Ferrer returned to private law practice after he retired from the Sandiganbayan in August 2002, after reaching the compulsory retirement age of 70. Prior to his stint at the Sandiganbayan, Ferrer served as regional trial court judge in Baguio-Benguet, and Lingayen in Pangasinan from 1983 to 2000, and was a private lawyer in Metro Manila and Northern Luzon from 1960 to 1983. On the other hand, 38-year-old Larrazabal was named to the seat after the late Commissioner Romeo Brawner died in 2008 and the Commission on Appointments (CA) twice bypassed the nomination of Leonardo Leonida. Larrazabal served as Special Provincial Board of Canvassers vice chairman in 2007 and Comelec regional elections director IV for region VIII from 2008 to 2009. He graduated from the University of San Carlos where he earned his Bachelor of Laws, Master of Arts in Philosophy, and Bachelor of Arts Major in Political Science. He also attended the Harvard Law School Program of Instruction for Lawyers in 2000. Veteran election lawyer Sixto Brillantes, who served as Aquino’s legal counsel in the last presidential elections, was earlier chairman of the Comelec, replacing Jose Melo, who opted for an early retirement. Brillantes will serve the unexpired term of Melo, who was supposed to retire in 2015. - Amita Legaspi and Kim Tan/GMANews.TV