MANILA, Philippines — (UPDATE – 1:17 p.m.) Commissioner Christian Robert Lim is the officer-in-charge of the Commission on Elections.
Lim was unanimously chosen on Tuesday, October 24, by his fellow election commissioners en banc.
He will head the poll body until President Rodrigo Duterte can choose a replacement for former Comelec chairman Andres Bautista, who stepped down the day before after being informed his offer to resign had been accepted “effective immediately.”
WATCH | Palace accepts Comelec chief Bautista’s resignation, ‘effective immediately’
Lim had also served as Comelec OIC following the retirement of former chairman Sixto Brillantes.
Comelec spokesman James Jimenez said Bautista’s departure would have no effect on the agency’s operations.
He added that whoever Duterte names chairman of the poll body will serve the remainder of Bautista’s term until February 2022.
Jimenez said Lim immediately buckled down to work, outlining his plans for the immediate future.
In Malacañag, presidential spokesman Ernesto Abella confirmed that Duterte has not yet decided on a replacement for Bautista, who was impeached by the House of Representatives even after he offered to quit his post at the end of the year.
Bautista has been accused of amassing hidden wealth by his estranged wife Patricia.
