New Comelec chair Abas’ ties to MILF’s Iqbal led to longer CA scrutiny in 2015

Commission on Elections Commissioner Sheriff Abas's nomination as chairman of the poll body will still have to undergo confirmation from the Commission on Appointments.

It took Abas some time before the CA approved his appointment to the Comelec in 2015. He was bypassed at least twice and had to be reappointed twice by then President Benigno Aquino.

The issue against him then was his relationship with his uncle, Moro Islamic Liberation Front chief peace negotiatior Mohagher Iqbal.

Then Senator Alan Peter Cayetano said in 2015 that Iqbal's real name is Datucan Abas.

Iqbal had refused to confirm or deny the relationship, although former Comelec Chairman Andres Bautista had said Abas himself made the disclosure to him.

Aquino appointed Abas as Comelec commissioner on April 28, 2015 along with Bautista and Commissioner Rowena Guanzon. Their terms would end on February 2, 2022.

Among the three, Abas was the last to be confirmed by the CA. Guanzon was confirmed by the CA on June 10, 2015 and Bautista on September 22, 2015.

Abas got the nod of the CA more than a year after his appointment, on May 25, 2016.

His appointment then faced opposition.

Some said Aquino gave Igbal a favor in appointing a nephew, a little-known lawyer with no background in election laws and procedures, to a lucrative national post. Critics said Abas is not known even among Muslim lawyers.

Cayetano had said placing a relative of the MILF chairman in Comelec could be seen as a move of the MILF to influence the decisions of the poll body. At that time, the passage of the Bangsamoro Basic Law was being discussed.

The MILF was expected to participate in the plebiscite required for the establishment of a new Bangsamoro state and the subsequent elections for its officials.

He, along with Bautista, was bypassed by the CA when Congress adjourned its session on June 10, 2015. They were subsequently reappointed by Aquino within that month.

When Bautista was confirmed in September 2015, the CA deferred Abas's confirmation after Cayetano requested the panel for time to ask him questions.

Abas was again reappointed by Aquino on February 4, 2016 after Congress adjourning session without tackling his appointment. He was finally confirmed three months after.

Before his appointment to the Comelec, Abas was Attorney VI and acting assistant regional director of the Civil Service Commission in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao for eight years starting 2007.

He acquired a degree in Philosophy from the Notre Dame University in Cotabato City in 1999 and a law degree from the Ateneo de Davao University in 2004. He taught law in Notre Dame of Cotabato for three years.

The CA will have to give its consent before the President issues the appointment of Abas as Comelec chairman. Under the rules of the CA, regular appointments or nominations--those made while Congress is in session--goes through four stages: nomination, consent, appointment and acceptance by the nominee.

"What the President sends to the Commission is just a nomination. After the Commission has given its consent, the President issues the appointment. It is only when the last stage has been completed may the officer concerned take his oath of office," the CA said in its website. —NB, GMA News