CA panel refers reso on removal of Marcoleta’s ‘give-up’ Kalayaan remark to other committee

The Commission on Appointments’ (CA) committee on national defense has referred to another panel a resolution seeking action over remarks by a lawmaker suggesting that the Philippines should give up the Municipality of Kalayaan in Palawan.

During a plenary session on Wednesday, Representative Joboy Aquino, chairperson of the CA committee, said the panel deliberated on a communication transmitted by the Municipality of Kalayaan in Palawan through Sangguniang Bayan Resolution No. 099-016.

The resolution expressed the local government’s sentiments regarding the remark made by neophyte Senator Rodante Marcoleta about supposedly giving up the island amid tensions with China in the West Philippine Sea.

“The Committee on National Defense recommends that the Sangguniang Bayan Resolution No. 099-016 of the Municipality of Kalayaan, Province of Palawan be referred to the Committee on Rules and Resolutions for its appropriate action and recommendations,” he added.

CA chairperson and Senate President Vicente Sotto III approved the motion after no objections were raised by members of the panel.

To recall, Marcoleta was criticized by several sectors and parties over the controversial remark he made during the previous hearing of the CA committee. He, however, has repeatedly insisted that his words were taken out of context. 

In the resolution, local officials of the Municipality of Kalayaan stood firm that not one inch of their municipality is negotiable, and that any record suggesting otherwise is “a historical error that must be corrected.” —RF, GMA Integrated News