Aquino urged to appoint PWD as Comelec commissioner By VERA Files
By ELLEN TORDESILLAS, VERA Files

Elections Commissioner Rene Sarmiento is urging President Aquino to make history by appointing state solicitor Jessica S. Magbanua, a person with disability, to the Commission on Elections, replacing Augusto C. Lagman who was bypassed by the Commission on Appointments.

“Attorney Magbanua is a lawyer, a woman, a PWD,” Sarmiento said at the launching last week of Fully Abled Nation, a campaign that aims to increase the participation of persons with disability in the 2013 elections. “All things considered, she would be an asset to the commission.”

Sarmiento, the election body’s focal person for PWDs and other vulnerable sectors, also said the Comelec is fully supporting the campaign to encourage PWDs to exercise their right to suffrage. He added that Magbanua, who has been active in the campaign, would be a big help.

“She will be an eloquent voice for the vulnerables,” said Sarmiento, who is himself retiring early next year, leaving another vacancy open before the May 2013 midterm elections.

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