Harriet Demetriou


Harriet Obias Demetriou is a Filipino lawyer and was the first female Chairperson of the Philippine election commission, the COMELEC, appointed by President Joseph Estrada. She was one of only four women appointed to the Philippine Election Commission.
Demetriou, the then-judge of Pasig City regional trial court, was known to the public for handing down the March 1995 verdict against former Calauan, Laguna mayor Antonio Sanchez and six others for the rape-slay of 21-year-old Mary Eileen Sarmenta and the killing of 19-year-old Allan Gomez in June 1993.

Comelec Post

On January 11, 1999, President Estrada appointed Sandiganbayan Justice Harriet Demetriou as Chairman of the Commission on Elections. After the events of January 2001 that led to the ouster of President Estrada from power, Demetriou tendered her courtesy resignation which was accepted by President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.

MAGDALO Lawyer

Former Commission of Elections chair Harriet Demetriou was the lead counsel for the core officers of the Magdalo group, who led the siege on the Oakwood hotel on July 27, 2003.