Senator and presidential aspirant Manny Pacquiao said that he is confident that newly appointed Comelec commissioner, election lawyer George Garcia, would be impartial and do his job right. 

“Itong si George Garcia kasi mabuting tao naman ‘yan, matinong tao ‘yan. Naging lawyer ko rin ‘yan. Dedicated sa trabaho niya… mapagkakatiwalaan,” Pacquiao said at a media briefing at the Tarlac City Hall.

Pacquiao also believed that Garcia would spare the commission of politics since the election lawyer previously handled cases of another presidential candidate, Ferdinand Marcos Jr.

“Automatic lang na gagampanan niya ‘yung trabaho niya as a lawyer. ‘Yan iba naman trabaho niya as a commissioner. Poprotektahan naman niya ‘yung Comelec, ‘yung trabaho niya para hindi mahaluan ng politika,”

“Naniniwala naman ako sa kaniyang kakayahan, walang problema.”

Pacquio explained that the appointments of Saidamen Balt Pangarungan as ad interim chairperson of the Comelec, and Garcia and Aimee Torrefranca-Neri as ad interim Comelec commissioners, are within the powers of the President Rodrigo Duterte.

“Prerogative naman ng executive, ng pangulo na mag-appoint ng tao sa posisyon na bakante. Importante naman na may tao para magawa ‘yung trabaho sa loob ng mga natitirang ilang buwan. Sayang din naman ‘yung magagawang trabaho sa time na ‘yun,” he said. – Ronald Espartinez