Gus Lagman on Comelec post: I hope they get the right IT guy

With the recent retirement of two commissioners at the Commission on Elections (Comelec), veteran IT executive Augusto “Gus" Lagman is reportedly being considered for one of the vacant posts by Pres. Noynoy Aquino, who seems keen on appointing an IT person to the poll body. Asked for comment, Lagman said: “I head about it. But there are probably many nominees. I just hope he appoints an IT person whose heart is in the right place. Marami naman niyan." The Philippine Star mentioned early this month that Lagman is one of the candidates for the posts left vacant by the retirement of commissioners Nicodemo Ferrer and Gregorio Larrazabal. The report, which also described Lagman as a close friend of former Comelec chair Christian Mondod, said Aquino wants to give the position to an IT expert who could provide valuable insight as the Comelec undertakes full automation of the country’s elections. The same report, however, said newly appointed Comelec chair Sixto Brillantes said he prefers to have a lawyer named to the post since most of the work at the agency involve legal matters. Lagman has been very vocal in his opinion that the 2010 national automated elections was extremely flawed and that a lot of money could have been saved if a different system was put in place. Aside from being one of the local pioneers of the local IT industry, Lagman has served as a top Namfrel (National Movement for Free Elections) executive who oversaw the poll watchdog’s quick count operations in the past years. He was recently recognized by the IT press corps CyberPress as the recipient of its IT Lifetime Achievement Award for his contributions to the local tech industry. — Newsbytes.ph