CA screens, sanctions 554 Palace appointees
The bicameral Commission on Appointments (CA) of the 14th Congress has so far given its consent to a record 554 presidential appointees or nominees.
Cebu Rep. Eduardo Gullas, head of the House contingent to the CA, said the total includes the latest batch of 69 appointees confirmed by the Commission shortly before Congress adjourned sine die on June 5.
"In its last four plenary sessions, the CA gave its consent to 69 of the 105 presidential appointees pending confirmation," he said.
Gullas said the CA gave its consent to two Cabinet members -- Press Secretary Cerge Remonde and Labor and Employment Secretary Marianito Roque; and 15 new ambassadors to Bahrain, Brazil, Brunei, Finland, Great Britian, Myanmar, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Qatar, Romania, Spain, Timor-Leste, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), and the Vatican.
He said the CA also gave its consent to 31 other chiefs of mission, career ministers and Foreign Service officers.
The CA likewise confirmed 21 high-ranking military officers led by the new Armed Forces chief of staff, Gen. Victor Ibrado, and the new Air Force chief, Lt. Gen. Oscar Rabena.
Despite the record number of candidates endorsed by the CA, not all presidential appointees were confirmed.
Gullas said the CA did not act on the appointments of 36 officials.
He cited former Senator Orlando Mercado, who had asked Malacanang to withdraw his appointment as ambassador to China after he was repeatedly bypassed by the CA.
Instead, Mercado settled for a less sensitive post as special envoy to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean).
The CA has also not acted on the appointments or reappointments of three Cabinet members -- Socio-Economic Planning Secretary Ralph Recto, Environment and Natural Resources Secretary Jose Atienza Jr., and Energy Secretary Angelo Reyes; Chairman Ricardo Saludo of the Civil Service Commission (CSC); and Commission on Election (Comelec) commissioners Leonardo Leonida and Elias Yusoph.
Reyes, Atienza and Leonida have been bypassed by the CA several times. Still, the three get reappointed every time they are snubbed.
The CA has also not acted on 14 diplomats and 16 senior military officers led by Lt. Gen. Raymundo Ferrer, chief of the Armed Forces’ Eastern Mindanao Command based in Davao City.
The Constitution vests the CA with the power to approve presidential appointments, as part of institutional checks and balances. Those subject to CA confirmation are department heads, ambassadors, other public ministers and consuls, military officers from the rank of colonel or naval captain, and constitutional commission heads and members. (PNA)