Palace exec admits ‘backers’ role in presidential appointments

Aside from qualifications, recommendations by "backers" also play a key role in the selection of presidential appointees in the government, a Malacañang official admitted Thursday. Presidential Management Staff (PMS) head Cerge Remonde said that while there is a strict Palace search committee, recommendations from 'backers' tend to break the tie between equally qualified candidates. "Yung recommendation, let's be frank about it, all things being equal yan. Halimbawa sa isang position dalawa o tatlo pareho qualification, ang isa medyo recommended, that's where the power of the backer comes in (Let's be frank about it. Recommendations come in when there is a case of all things being equal. Let's say two or three candidates are equally qualified. That's where the power of the backer comes in)," Remonde said in an interview over dwIZ radio. The PMS acts as the secretariat for the Palace search committee. Remonde said that while he is not a member of the search committee, the PMS follows strict criteria. But he stressed it is the president who has the sole power and prerogative to make the choice, even to the point of reappointing appointees rejected by the Commission on Appointments. To recall, outgoing Civil Service Commission (CSC) chairwoman Karina David had criticize what she called the "palakasan" system prevalent in the current administration, as manifested allegedly by President Arroyo's penchant for appointing retired military and police officials to various government posts. In response, Presidential Spokesman Ignacio Bunye chided David for allegedly coming up with a “sweeping generalization" against presidential appointees, saying her statement is a "disservice" to the over one million civil servants in the country. - GMANews.TV