Despite illness, Miriam to block Soliman’s confirmation anew

Senate Miriam Defensor Santiago will rise from her sick bed on Wednesday to once again block the confirmation of Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) Secretary Corazon "Dinky" Soliman.

In a letter to the Commission on Appointment (CA)'s labor and social welfare committee on Tuesday, Santiago accused Soliman of being a "devotee" of former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.

"Ms. Soliman was a fervent devotee of President Arroyo. All of a sudden, on her way to Emmaus, she heard a voice telling her that President Arroyo is allegedly corrupt," Santiago said in her letter.

Soliman was DSWD chief for four years during Arroyo's administration, but resigned at the height of accusations that the former President rigged the 2004 polls.

Soliman once again assumed the Cabinet post in 2010 after being appointed by President Benigno Aquino III.

Santiago, who is suffering from chronic fatigue syndrome, said Soliman "should be satisfied with one term under one president."

 In 2011, Soliman's confirmation was also deferred after Santiago questioned her affiliation with the Black and White Movement (BWM), a civil society group critical of the Arroyo administration.

Santiago argued that Cabinet officials "are not allowed to be a member of any of the organizations that we may accredit for the work that they do." Soliman said she already left the group, but she has nonetheless been bypassed since her appointment in 2010.

Justice Secretary Leila de Lima, Environment Secretary Ramon Paje and Energy Secretary Carlos Jericho Petilla have also been bypassed by the CA but were reappointed by President Aquino.

'Dinky denouncing my integrity'

Santiago specifically said that she will invoke during Soliman's nomination Section 20 of the CA rules, which enables any of its members to defer the confirmation of a nominee without explanation or questions.

The senator said she will do this because she received information from "Palace insiders" that Soliman has "felt free to denounce" her integrity.

"I was a judge in the Estrada impeachment case, and I voted against opening the second envelope. Ms. Soliman seized this incident that I was pro-Estrada, and therefore corrupt," Santiago said.

In January 2011, 11 senators voted not to open an envelope suspected to contain evidence against President Joseph Estrada, who was then undergoing impeachment trial. The incident triggered triggered a five-day mass action in EDSA, which ultimately lead to Estrada’s ouster.

Presidential Communications Operations Office head Herminio Coloma Jr., for his part, said it is within Santiago's rights to invoke Section 20.
 
"Meron din naman pong mga internal rules ang Commission on Appointments hinggil diyan na pwede yatang ma-invoke iyan except on the last day, ano, na dapat ay pagbotohan. Alamin lang po natin iyong proseso nila," Coloma said at a press conference at the Malacañang Palace. — with Kimberly Jane Tan/BM, GMA News