Senator Revilla's press statement on Melo appointment

I laud President Gloria Arroyo's appointment of retired Justice Jose Melo as the new chairman of the Commission on Elections. He is a man of integrity and unquestionable credibility. His track record showed these traits particularly as head of the Melo Commission, which investigated the extra-judicial killings which hounded the administration.

He was a confidential assistant to the chairman of the Presidential Anti-Graft Committee from 1963 to 1965. He also became a commissioner of the Civil Service Commission; associate commissioner of the Professional Regulation Commission; and solicitor of the Office of the Solicitor General. He was a member of the Appeals Committee which reviewed the dismissal of hundreds of civil service employees who were purged in 1976.

Chairman Melo will surely be an asset to the Comelec. I appeal to him to implement the much needed reforms in the electoral body. The people's right to vote will go to waste if we can not protect their vote.

As early as now, the Comelec should prepare for 2010 by drafting a plan to assure an honest, orderly and peaceful election. I believe it could be done through Chairman Melo's leadership.