President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. named lawyer Beda Angeles Epres as one of the new commissioners of the Commission on Human Rights (CHR).

The CHR confirmed the appointment of Epres, who is the first out of the five appointed members under the sixth Commission en banc (CEB), the highest decision and policy-making body of the agency.

“His appointment letter, dated 15 September 2022, was signed by President Ferdinand Marcos Jr and was transmitted to CHR on 21 September 2022. CHR Executive Director, Atty. Jacqueline Ann de Guia, already met with Commissioner Epres for a preliminary meeting,” the CHR said in a press statement released on Tuesday, Sept. 28.

The position had been vacant since former CHR commissioner Roberto Eugenio’s term ended on May 5 this year.

The new Commissioner is set to serve a seven-year term from 2022 to 2029.

Epres had been an official of the Office of the Ombudsman (OMB) since 1997.

His last position in the OMB was the Director IV of the General Investigation Bureau.

In his early career, he headed the monitoring team of the OMB Field Investigation Office (FIO) and FIO’s Intelligence Bureau. He also served as the director of OMB Intelligence Bureau-FIO II in 2011.