CA bypasses confirmation of last 5 Duterte appointees

The last five appointees of President Rodrigo Duterte in three constitutional bodies failed to keep their posts after the Commission on Appointments (CA) bypassed their ad interim appointments on Wednesday.

The CA Committee on Constitutional Commissions adjourned the hearing on the appointments of the following officials:

• Commission on Audit (COA) Chairperson Rizalina Noval Justol
• Civil Service Commission Chairperson Karlo Alexei Nograles
• Commission on Elections Chairperson Saidamen Pangarungan
• Comelec Commissioner Aimee Torrefranca-Neri
• Comelec Commissioner George Erwin Garcia

Only eight members of the CA panel are present. The committee needs nine members to declare the presence of a quorum.

The appointments of the five officials were technically bypassed by the bicameral commission as the CA can no longer hold hearings and plenary deliberations once Congress adjourns its sessions.

The 18th Congress is set to adjourn sine die on June 3.

The deliberations of the appointments of the five Duterte appointees was deferred twice.

On May 25, the CA panel deferred deliberations on the appointments of five constitutional commission officials as some members of the committee were part of the National Board of Canvassers (NBOC), which tallied the votes for president and vice president in the May elections.

Last Monday, the panel moved to reschedule the hearing on Wednesday, 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 affected constitutional bodies.

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, he said the CA gave the then-incoming administration of President Rodrigo Duterte a "freehand" to choose the officials for some constitutional commissions.

In an interview after Monday's hearing, Zubiri said some incoming members of the Marcos Cabinet have asked him to consider giving Marcos a chance to pick his appointees for the constitutional commissions.

Zubiri’s argument was countered by Senator Aquilino Pimentel III before the Wednesday's hearing officially started, saying appointees facing the committee are from constitutional offices.

"They are actually expected to be independent. I think that word is found in the Constitution as part of the qualifications of the holders of those positions," Pimentel said.

"So the appointees are independent. So who appoints them should not be a big issue as long as the qualification of independence, probity, integrity, competence are present in the nominee or appointee," he added.

Pimentel said he would have voted for the confirmation of Justol and Nograles should the committee tackle their appointments.

Senator Bong Go, a close ally of Duterte, said in a statement that he would have also voted for the confirmation of the appointments of the officials.

"The independence of these constitutional commissions is one of the major pillars of our robust democracy. It is necessary that we safeguard such independence at all times," Go said.   —KBK, GMA News