Koko Pimentel says Harry Roque won’t need CA confirmation

Senate President Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel III on Thursday said incoming presidential spokesperson will no longer need to face the bicameral Commission on Appointments (CA).

Pimentel sits as the chairman of the bicameral body.

“The presidential spokesman, like the presidential legal counsel and executive secretary, should be 100 percent left to discretion of the President,” Pimentel said in a text message to reporters.

“The presidential spokesman, in my opinion, need not be confirmed anymore by the CA. The presidential spokesman does not run a department like the other secretaries,” Pimentel added.

Informed of this, Roque told reporters after his first briefing in Malacañang: “Very good then.”

Earlier in a television interview, Roque said he has yet to resign from the House of Representatives. Roque represents the Kabayan party-list in Congress.

Roque, who will officially assume his post on November 6, said he was advised by his colleagues not to resign yet until it is clear whether his appointment will need the CA’s approval.

President Rodrigo Duterte made the announcement on Roque’s appointment on October 28. Duterte said he will have a rank of a Cabinet secretary.

Duterte said Roque’s appointment was his “personal decision.”

Roque, who faced the Malacañang Press Corps for the first time on Thursday, replaced Ernesto Abella, who had a rank of undersecretary. — with Trisha Macas/RSJ, GMA News