Jose Melo

In 1986, Melo was appointed to the Court of Appeals by President Corazon Aquino. About six years later, he was appointed by President Fidel Ramos to the Supreme Court on August 10, 1992. Melo served for ten years on the High Court, retiring after reaching the mandatory retirement age of 70 on May 30, 2002.

On August 21, 2006, President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo created an investigating body headed by Melo to probe the extrajudicial and political killings which had targeted militant activists and members of the press.[7] The body, popularly known as the Melo Commission, rendered a report which concluded that most of the killings were instigated by the Armed Forces of the Philippines, but found no proof linking the murder of activists to a "national policy" as claimed by the left-wing groups. On the other hand, the report "linked state security forces to the murder of militants and recommended that military officials, notably retired major general Jovito Palparan, be held liable under the principle of command responsibility for killings in their areas of assignment."[7]

In January 2008, three months after the resignation of then-COMELEC Chairman Benjamin Abalos, President Macapagal-Arroyo announced the appointment of Melo as Chairman of the Commission on Elections.[8] The announcement was not spared from criticisms as critics pointed out his role as Abalos' lawyer when he testified in the Senate investigation into the NBN-ZTE deal.[9] Nevertheless, his appointment was confirmed by the Commission on Appointments in June 2008.[10] During his term, he oversaw the country’s transition to full automated elections leading up to the 2010 general election.[11] He also introduced reforms for detainee voting and campaign finance reporting.[12] He resigned from his post in January 2011 cutting short his supposedly seven-year term.[13][14] He was succeeded by Sixto Brillantes.