Duterte names Abas as Comelec chair; Devanadera to ERC
President Duterte has named Commission on Elections (Comelec) Commissioner Sheriff Abas as the poll body's new Chairman and former Justice Secretary and Solicitor General Agnes Devanadera as new chief executive officer (CEO) of the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC).
The appointment papers of both Abas and Devanadera were signed by the President on Wednesday, November 22. Abas will serve until February 2, 2022 while Devanadera will serve until July 10, 2022, or the remaining years of the term of their predecessors.
Abas will be replacing Andres Bautista who resigned last October, 2017 due to the corruption allegations raised by his estranged wife.
Abas, a law professor, is reportedly the nephew of Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) chief negotiator Mohagher Iqbal. Iqbal, however, refused to confirm this as revealed by Bautista in a radio interview two years ago.
Abas worked as acting assistant regional director of the Civil Service Commission (CSC) in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao from June, 2007 until his appointment to the Comelec on April, 2015.
Abas, who headed Comelec's packing and shipping committee, finished his undergraduate degree in philosophy at Notre Dame University in Cotabato City in 1999. He obtained his law degree from the Ateneo de Davao University in 2004.
Meanwhile, Devanadera will replace Jose Vicente Salazar who was dismissed by President Duterte after being found guilty of neglect of duty and other anomalies last month.
Devanadera served as former President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo's Solicitor General and acting Justice secretary when then Justice Secretary Raul Gonzalez was on medical leave.
She is the 41st and first woman Solicitor General who was appointed by Arroyo on February, 2007.
In 2006, Devanadera was charged with graft for a debt agreement signed by the Philippine National Construction Corporation (PNCC) and British lending firm Radstock Securities, Inc.
According to the case information filed by the Office of the Ombudsman, Devanadera advised the PNCC to enter into an amicable settlement with Radstock, which bought the rights to PNCC's debt to Japanese firm Marubeni Corp., worth more 16 billion.
In May, 2017, the Sandiganbayan dismissed the graft case, citing delay on the part of the Ombudsman in conducting its preliminary investigation.
According to the Sandiganbayan, it took the Ombudsman more than six years to complete its preliminary investigation.
"It bears stressing that the assertion or non-assertion of the right to a speedy disposition of one's case is just one of the factors to consider in determining whether or not the right has been violated," the court's resolution read.