Senate names 9 to Commission on Appointments contingent

The Senate on Monday elected nine senators to sit as members of the powerful Commission on Appointments (CA).

During the plenary session, the following senators were named to the Senate contingent to the bicameral commission: Ronald “Bato” Dela Rosa, JV Ejercito, Jinggoy Estrada, Bong Go, Rodante Macoleta, Imee Marcos, Raffy Tulfo, Joel Villanueva, and Mark Villar. 

Senator Alan Peter Cayetano temporarily withdrew his nomination to give way to more representation of the Senate minority bloc in the CA. 

“I will withdraw for today and then maybe in a day or two, the minority will be able to also, with us, come up with a consensus on the right representation of the 12-member, 12-man and woman contingent of the Senate, plus of course the Senate President as the chair of the Commission on Appointments,” Cayetano said. 

This came after Senate Minority Leader Vicente “Tito” Sotto III questioned the move of Senate Majority Leader Joel Villanueva to elect 10 senators of the majority bloc to the commission. 

“The last word I know is that the Supreme Court has decided that if there's controversy in the composition ... it is very clear that the Senate must follow the party lines and the party representation," Sotto said.

"So if this body elects to follow the SC decision on the articles of impeachment, why can't they follow the decision of the SC when it comes to computation of membership in CA?” he added.

He said that the five-man minority bloc was expecting "more cooperation or better treatment" from the majority.

"We're trying to do our best to treat you as well because we can make it harder for you, if this is what you want... We're expecting, you know, something better," Sotto said.

Villanueva, meanwhile, explained that his computation was based on the 80-20 representation from the majority and minority. 

“80% of 12 members would be equal to 9.6 members which may be rounded up to 10 members. 20% of 12 members would equal to 2.4 members which rounded out to 2,” the Senate majority leader said. 

Article 6, Section 18 of the 1987 Constitution states that the CA shall consist of the President of the Senate, as ex officio Chairman, 12 senators, and 12 members of the House of Representatives, elected by each House based on proportional representation from the political parties and parties or organizations registered under the party-list system represented therein. 

The CA is mandated to approve or disapprove appointments made by the President of the Philippines, the confirmation of which is required under the 1987 Constitution.

The commission’s function “forms part of the very delicate mechanism of checks and balances established by the Constitution to ensure that the coordinate departments of the government will function in a way that will be most conducive to the public welfare,” based on its website. –NB, GMA Integrated News