NEW  COMELEC COMMISSIONER

BINMALEY – Pangasinan leaders hailed the appointment of former Sandiganbayan Justice Nicodemo Ferrer as a commissioner of the Commission on Elections (Comelec).

Mayor Simplicio Rosario said his townmates share his jubilation over President Gloria Arroyo’s appointment of Ferrer who hails from Mabini Street of this town.

He expressed confidence that Commissioner Ferrer, like other Pangasinenses who have been appointed to key positions in government service, will bring honor and credibility to the service.

The Comelec remains in the eye of a national scandal and controversy owing to the “Hello Garci” episode that pointed to massive cheating in the last presidential elections.

He said local officials are planning to hold a ceremony to celebrate Ferrer’s appointment “to show how honored we are to have a townmate like him”.

“His untarnished record in the anti-graft court and in the judiciary being a former respected judge plus his unquestionable integrity will surely make him “an asset” of the poll body,” Rosario said.

Ferrer, 74, is known in the community as a very religious man who actively participates in the church’s activities, particularly during Sunday masses.

For his part, Vice Governor Oscar Lambino said that Pangasinenses have reason to celebrate Justice Ferrer’s appointment being a worthy son of Pangasinan.

“We need more men and women of integrity like Justice Ferrer to watch  over the sanctity of our ballots,” Lambino said.

Lambino said that he would ask his colleagues in the Sangguniang Panlalawigan to pass a resolution in their upcoming session lauding Ferrer’s appointment as Comelec commissioner.

Ferrer was recommended by retired Chief Justice Hilario Davide Jr. who now serves as Mrs. Arroyo’s adviser on electoral reforms, to fill one of the two positions vacated by former Commissioners Mehol Sadain and Manuel Barcelona – EVA

Who is Justice Nicodemo Ferrer?

Justice Ferrer, 73, was a Justice of the Sandiganbayan, the first Pangasinense to be appointed to the Sandiganbayan, from February 2000 to 2002. He was first appointed   RTC-Judge of Baguio-Benguet Branch 8 in La Trinidad, Benguet from February 1983 to November 1990; an executive judge of the regional trial court (RTC) Branch 37 in Lingayen town in Pangasinan from February 1983 up to February 2000.

 Ferrer obtained his Bachelor of Laws and Bachelor of Science in Jurisprudence degrees at the University of the Philippines in 1959 and passed the bar examinations the same year.

He took his Master of Business Administration (Senior   Executive Program) at the Ateneo University of Graduate School of Business in Makati in 1982.

He was a trial and corporate lawyer from 1960 up to February 1983 and was a partner in prominent law firms in Pangasinan and Metro Manila, among them the Ferrer & Ferrer Law Offices in Binmaley (1960-1963); Millora Ferrer Arzadon & Associates (1963-1968); N.T. Ferrer & Associates Law Offices in Dagupan City (1968-1974).

In Makati City, he was a partner in Villafuerte Zamora & Associates (1974-1980); and the Zamora Zamora Soller Ferrer Reverente Baluyut Law Offices (April 1980 until his appointment as RTC Judge in La Trinidad, Benguet).

He was a professor in law and bar reviewer in various law schools in northern Luzon,  among them are VMUF-College of Law in San Carlos City  (1994-present); Saint Louis University-College of Law in Baguio City (1983-1990); and the Orient Colleges-College of Law in Dagupan City from (1967-1969).

A member of the Philippine Judges Association since its inception and director representing RTC region one from 1989 to 1991, he is also a member of various professional, civic and religious organizations.

He was the secretary-general in 1991-1992 and later as president in 1992-1993 of the Association of RTC Judges in Pangasinan, and a director of the Integrated Bar of the Philippines (IBP)-Pangasinan Chapter (1979-1980).

Today, Justice Ferrer is an Extraordinary Eucharistic Minister at the Our Lady of Purification Parish in his hometown in Binmaley, an active member of the Knights of Columbus, Binmaley Council No. 5891 where he served as Grand Knight from 1973 to 1975.

A former member and club secretary of the Rotary Club of Dagupan City, he also served as treasurer of the Pangasinan-Dagupan City Lawyer’s League from 1965 to 1966.

Justice Ferrer is married to the former Laureta Laguit and their union is blessed with 5 children: Leo, Lea, Andrew, Jonathan and Raymund. His father, the late Atty. Andres G. Ferrer, was former Mayor of Binmaley, former Philippine Consul in Hawaii and California. His mother, Jesusa Tulagan Ferrer, was a public school teacher. – NCC

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