Manila (4 February) -- President Gloria Macapagal-Arryo has appointed Fiscal Elias Yusoph as member of the Commission of Elections (Comelec), completing the composition of the six-person poll body.

Secretary Eduardo Ermita, who announced Yusoph's appointment, said Yusoph was highly recommended by the Bishop-Ulama Conference led by its co-convenors Davao Archbishop Fernando Capalla, United Church of Christ in the Philippines Bishop Emeritus Hilario Gomez, Jr. and Hamid Barra, representative of the Ulama League of the Philippines.

Yusoph has been fiscal of Marawi City since 1987. Before that he served as assistant fiscal and special prosecutor of the Department of Justice (DOJ) from 1983 to 1987 and 1980 to 1983, respectively. He passed the bar examinations in 1977.

Ermita said the Bishop-Ulama Conference hailed Yusoph's appointment, saying it "not only shows the sincerity of the government in appointing a Muslim to this Constitutional body but also infuses a new personality in the Commission."