CA panel defers anew confirmation of COA, CSC, Comelec execs

A Commission on Appointments panel on Monday deferred again the hearing on the appointments of the officials of the Commission on Audit (COA), Commission on Civil Service (CSC), and Commission on Elections (Comelec).

This came after Senator Juan Miguel Zubiri raised a suggestion to give President-elect Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. a chance to pick his own appointees for the said constitutional bodies.

The CA committee on constitutional commissions was supposed to deliberate the appointments of the following officials:

• COA Chairperson Rizalina Noval Justol
• CSC Chairperson Karlo Alexei Nograles
• Comelec Chairperson Saidamen Pangarungan
• Comelec Commissioner Aimee Torrefranca-Neri
• Comelec Commissioner George Erwin Garcia.

During the hearing, Zubiri cited a precedent in February 2016 or during the last year of the administration of late President Benigno "Noynoy" Aquino III wherein former Senator Juan Ponce Enrile invoked Section 20 of the CA rules on the appointments of officials for constitutional offices and members of the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA).

During that time, Zubiri said the CA had given the then-incoming administration of President Rodrigo Duterte a "freehand" to choose the officials for some constitutional commissions.

"Madam chair, with due respect to these gentlemen and ladies here, many of them are my close friends, but the question is asked, wouldn’t it be better—because some of them have if I'm not mistaken the chair of the Commission on Audit will be there for 7 years…and therefore a position of 7 years, ibig sabihin, this new president with the mandate of 31 million votes, will not even be able to appoint the head of the COA until even up to the last day of his term, because she will have longer period of time than the president," he manifested.

"I’m just raising this fundamental question without Section 20 at this point in time with our colleagues, because I know Section 20 has to be done in plenary," he added, informing the CA panel that he plans to raise the specific rule in the plenary deliberations of the five officials' appointments.

Section 20 of the CA rules stated that: "Any member may move for the suspension of action by the Commission on any nomination or appointment favorably recommended by a Standing Committee and the Chairman shall suspend the consideration of said nomination or appointment: Provided, that such suspension may be taken up on the next succeeding session of the Commission; Provided, further, that this section shall not apply to nominations or appointments taken up by the Commission during the last session prior to a sine die adjournment of Congress and as provided under Section 25 of the Rules."

No opposition

After Zubiri's manifestation, Senator Aquilino "Koko" Pimentel III suggested to do a "case-to-case basis" as the appointees were already facing the CA panel and their appointments could already be approved since there are no oppositions against their nomination.

"With the appointee before us, nasasayangan lang naman ako, kasi walang opposition, no oppositor against her. 'Yung kanyang biodata, 'yung mga career highlights niya, most outstanding accounting, hall of famer in the most outstanding accounting office," Pimentel said, referring to the background of the acting COA chairperson.

In Justol's case, Pimentel explained that the COA chairperson was appointed on February 17 and her appointment was not tackled by the bicameral commission as they are on break for the Eleksyon 2022 campaign.

"Naka-break na tayo noon e...but if a deserving appointment was made by the outgoing president and then months earlier, by accident na naka-break na tayo because it was campaign period, maybe, we can proceed on a case-to-case basis na if there is an appointee like this one before us which we can say also caps her career in government with a post which is very respectable and a constitutional office, maybe a relaxation of that proposal can be requested," he said.

Caucus

But Zubiri said they might be favoring one appointee over the other if they will proceed with the deliberation of their appointments on a case-to-case basis.

"I have no problem with Ma'am [Justol] but it's the whole principle. If you make it case-to-case, how are you going to choose the others? Is it because they have bad character? Is it because there is an opposition, hindi natin ipapasa?  It's a matter of principle because of the choice of the president, because if you make it a case-to-case basis then we are favoring one over the other which I think is not correct at this point of time. Kawawa...that would be unfair to the appointees,"  he said.

He then suggested to take it up on Wednesday or the last day of the CA session but the members of the bicameral commission should vote whether to continue the deliberations or not in a caucus first.

"My suggestion is since we have a last day which will be on Wednesday. We can take it up on Wednesday. The hearings today, we can take it up on Wednesday and under our rules we have to vote on it in caucus so if that would be a better kasi didiscuss natin ngayon tapos irecommend mo sa plenary mamaya. Definitely, some of us, not only me, I know some colleagues in Congress will raise the issue of Section 20, e di sayang din. So why don't we do it for the last day? That is my humble suggestion, Madam Chair," Zubiri said.

Zubiri, who ran his re-election bid under the banner of Marcos and Vice President-elect Sara Duterte, made a formal motion after his manifestation. His motion was not objected to by the members of the CA panel.

Let Marcos appoint

In another interview, Zubiri disclosed that some incoming members of the Marcos Cabinet have asked him to consider giving Marcos a chance to pick his appointees for the constitutional commissions.

"Well, truth to be told, I'm sure maraming magkakaroon ng lobbying d'yan, kanya-kanyang tawag sa 25 members ng CA to appoint and not to appoint. I know for a fact that many members of the future cabinet of President BBM have asked me personally na kung pwede ibigay na lang ang opportunity sa ating bagong pangulo... We had a discussion in the proclamation, when we were briefly in the executive lounge, may mga kausap akong incoming cabinet secretaries at 'yan ang pakiusap nila sa akin. And I feel that it is very reasonable," Zubiri told reporters.

"Remember, this is a president that got 31 million votes, highest ever in the history of our country's electoral process. So malaki ang tiwala ng taumbayan sa kanya, almost 60 percent," he added.

With three Comelec appointees up for confirmation, Zubiri also pointed out the need for Marcos to choose his trusted men in the poll body considering the necessary reforms in the electoral process, especially in view of the conduct of Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan polls as well as the 2025 elections.

"Remember, mayroon pa tayong supposed to be barangay and SK elections this coming November, December, and then we have the 2025 elections. We still want to do electoral reforms. Ang daming nangyayaring vote-buying and all sorts of shenanigans during the elections. So there are three incoming Comelec commissioners at stake. Wouldn't we want also the president to choose those individuals in that reforms in the Comelec?" he asked.

Despite these pronouncements, Zubiri clarified that Marcos did not direct them to put on hold the confirmation of the ad interim appointments of the five officials.

Under the rules, Zubiri explained that the five appointees in the constitutional commissions need to get 13 votes from the CA. Otherwise, their appointments will be considered rejected.

"Bypass is something that maybe the chairman would want to decide na hindi na niya itutuloy (ang hearing ng appointments). Bypass ‘yun hindi siya rejected," he further explained

Second deferment

This was the second time that the CA panel deferred the confirmation of the appointments of the five officials from COA, CSC, and Comelec.

Last week, the panel postponed the hearing as some of its members are part of the National Board of Canvassers (NBOC) which tallied the votes for president and vice president in the recently-concluded 2022 national and local elections.

In an interview after the CA hearing, Garcia said they will submit to the wisdom of the bicameral commission whether or not they decide to uphold the appointments made by outgoing President Rodrigo Duterte.

“Of course, we respect the wisdom of the members of the CA, we highly, highly respect kasi ganun po talaga ‘yun… siyempre, ‘yun ang kinakailangan nilang i-weigh. Kung anuman po ang kanilang direction(that's the way it is. Whatever their decision will be), whether to respect the present appointing authority or to just let the new appointing authority to decide, then of course, kami po we will accept our fate,” he told reporters.

Whatever the decision of the lawmakers on Wednesday, Garcia said he has done his part in the conduct of “one of the best elections we have so far in the history of our country with the most number of voters who voted on election day.”

“Ang importante lang, ako, personally doon sa ilang araw o panahon na andyan ako sa commission (What is important, for me personally, during the time I am with the commission), at least we were able to conduct a very honest and peaceful elections, I think that is very important. Whatever will happen to us that is a matter of fate and therefore, we are willing to accept, personally, I am willing to accept my fate as far as the confirmation is concerned. So whether it happens today or it will happen on Wednesday then, so be it,” he said.—AOL, GMA News