CA rejects Yasay's appointment as DFA chief

The Commission on Appointments (CA) on Wednesday rejected the nomination of Secretary Perfecto Yasay Jr. as chief of the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA).

Yasay is the first Cabinet Secretary appointed by President Rodrigo Duterte to be rejected by the bicameral body.

"After careful deliberations of the foregoing circumstances and upon a unanimous vote of 15 of its members present in the caucus held this morning, this representation as chairman of the committee on foreign affairs hereby moves to reject the appointment," Senator Panfilo Lacson, chairman of the committee, said.

In an interview after the CA plenary, Lacson said Yasay must vacate his position immediately.

"He's been rejected so he will have to vacate his position... That's official. That's final, effective today after the rejection," Lacson said.

DFA spokesperson and Assistant Secretary Charles Jose said it is now up to President Rodrigo Duterte to appoint a new secretary or an acting secretary.

Jose assured that the work in the DFA will not be hampered by the CA's decision.

"Patuloy lang ang trabaho ng DFA... Hindi rin ito mag-cause ng demoralization," he said.

The decision was reached after two confirmation hearings on Yasay's appointment centered on questions about his citizenship.

During the hearing, Yasay apologized to the CA committee on foreign affairs, admitting that he may have "inadvertently misled" the body.

"Let me quickly apologize for having inadvertently misled the the Commission on this matter. It has never been my intention to deceive this Commission about my citizenship status," Yasay said.

"I am a Filipino and I am not an American citizen," the Cabinet secretary insisted.

Invalid US citizenship

Yasay clarified that when he denied that he was issued a US passport during his first confirmation hearing last month, he was only referring to a specific passport he supposedly owned as published by a news organization.

Yasay explained that he was granted a US citizenship on November 1986 and a passport thereafter. He said however that his citizenship was "invalid" under the US Immigration and Nationality Act.

"[It] was invalid under the US Immigration and Nationality Act because of a preconceived intent to relinquish my US residency at the time of said grant followed by the actual abandonment of such residency three months thereafter," he said.

"Simply put, I did not lose my status as a Filipino for the reason that I did not validly acquire US citizenship," Yasay said.

Yasay said he surrendered his certificate of naturalization for cancellation and revocation in 1993, while the US passport issued to him "has been misplaced and could not be located despite diligent search."

Occidental Mindoro Rep. Josephine Ramirez-Sato, a member of the CA, said Yasay may have "fooled" the US government when he applied for citizenship despite his intention to return to the Philippines.

"This clearly shows that at some point in time, particularly in November 1986, he was granted an American [citizenship] and up to this moment, he would tell us that he was never an American citizen," Sato said.

Yasay argued that he "voluntarily admitted that he is disqualified" to avoid a denaturalization proceeding, which would subject him to deportation.

Sato said the US only effectively announced its approval of Yasay's renunciation on February 9 when he was listed among those "who lost citizenship" by the US Internal Revenue Service.

Senate President Aquilino "Koko" Pimentel III, chairman of the CA, earlier said nominees rejected can no longer be re-appointed by the President.

"[It would be] pointless to reappoint because you're now questioning the wisdom of the Commission on Appointments," Pimentel said on Tuesday.

"'Nag tug-of-war kayo over the appointee. The President has to realize, once his appointees have been rejected, that there are 104 million Filipinos. Meron naman sigurong may kaya pa nung trabaho nung tao," he added. —ALG, GMA News