President Rodrigo Duterte appointed Manila chief city prosecutor Rey Bulay as Commission on Elections (Comelec) commissioner, confirmed Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque on Thursday, November 11.

“We are confident that Atty. Bulay will ensure the conduct of honest, orderly, credible, and peaceful elections,” Roque said in a statement.

Bulay is the seventh member of the commission, which is composed of one chairman and six commissioners. He joins Comelec chair Sheriff Abas and commissioners Rowena Guanzon, Socorro Inting, Marlon Casquejo, Antonio Kho Jr., and Aimee Ferolino.

Guanzon is the only remaining appointee of the late former president Benigno Aquino III in the en banc. (Editor’s Note: An earlier version of this story included Abas among the remaining Aquino appointees in the en banc. While Abas was named commissioner by Aquino, his current appointment as chairman was made by President Rodrigo Duterte.)

Before taking official duties, Bulay will need to be cleared by the Commission on Appointments, after which he will serve as commissioner until February 2, 2027.

Before this appointment, Duterte appointed Bulay as Manila prosecutor in July 2020. Prior to that role, Bulay was a commissioner at the Presidential Commission on Good Government, which is mandated to recover the ill-gotten wealth of dictator and former president Ferdinand Marcos.

Marcos’ son, former senator Bongbong Marcos, has filed his certificate of candidacy (COC) for president for the May 9, 2022 elections. Two petitions have been filed with the Comelec seeking to block his candidacy.

Bulay is one of the many Duterte appointees who graduated from San Beda College. Duterte is the first president to graduate from San Beda. – Rappler.com