CA resets hearing on COA, Comelec, CSC appointees due to canvassing of votes for president, VP

The bicameral Commission on Appointments (CA) has deferred deliberations on the appointments of five constitutional commission officials due to the ongoing tallying of votes for president and vice president by Congress sitting as the National Board of Canvassers (NBOC).

The CA Committee on Constitutional Commissions and Offices, chaired by Senator Cynthia Villar, had already opened the hearing and allowed interim Commission on Audit (COA) chairperson Rizalina Justol to present her opening speech when CA Assistant Majority Leader Gavini Apol" Pancho raised the letters that they received from two members of the panel.

"I would like to put on record that the committee has received a letter from Senator [Juan] Miguel Zubiri, the Senate majority floor leader, requesting the postponement of the hearing as scheduled today, May 25, 2022," Pancho said during the hearing.

"We likewise received a letter from Senator Panfilo M. Lacson today requesting the hearing as scheduled today be conducted next week for the same reason. The inability of our other members to attend in today's hearing is principally because of their performance of a constitutionally-mandated duty as part of the National Board of Canvassers for the presidential and vice-presidential elections," he added.

Upon the advice of CA vice chairperson San Juan Representative Ronaldo Zamora, Pancho said the members of the bicameral panel had discussed that they can set another date to deliberate the pending appointments of the commissioners.

"On that note, Madam Chair, may I move that the committee meeting schedule today be reset and resume until further notice," Pango said, which was subsequently approved by the CA committee.

Apart from Justol, the CA Committee on Constitutional Commissions and Offices was supposed to deliberate on the appointments of Civil Service Commission chairmperson Karlo Alexei Nograles, Commission on Elections chairperson Saidamen Pangarungan, Comelec Commissioners George Erwin Garcia and Aimee Torrefranca-Neri.

In a text message to reporters, Senator Aquilino "Koko" Pimentel III, member of the CA, said if the appointments were not approved by the bicameral panel, their ad interim appointments will be terminated.

"If bypassed, then ad interim appointment effectivity terminates and no 'midnight appointment' allowed at this time (my opinion)," Pimentel said.

"Also better policy is for the incumbent/outgoing president to let the incoming president choose the officials, if bypassed at this time," he added.

The Senate and the House of Representatives on Tuesday convened as the NBOC to start the official canvassing of votes for president and vice president in the 2022 national and local elections. — RSJ, GMA News