THE Commission on Appointments deferred the confirmation of Foreign Affairs Secretary Perfecto Yasay Jr. due to some congressmen’s pending concerns, an official said Wednesday.
“The House still has concerns,” said Senator Panfilo Lacson, chairman of the CA committee.
He said the commission will resume Yasay’s confirmation hearing next week.
During Yasay’s confirmation hearing on Wednesday, several CA members questioned him about the reports on his US citizenship, but Yasay said that although he applied for US citizenship, his application was denied.
He said he became a permanent legal resident in the US but returned to the Philippines after the 1986 Edsa People Power Revolution. He was petitioned by his wife who is a US citizen.
Yasay was also questioned on the government’s stand on the West Philippine Sea, to which he vowed that if there was an encroachment on Philippine territory, the government would “assert” its claim.
But he said he was not very optimistic that the sea dispute would be resolved within the term of President Rodrigo Duterte or even within his lifetime.
“Personally I would hope, but we may not be able to achieve it,” Yasay said.
He said the government will remain obliged to carry out an independent foreign policy to make sure it is anchored on the country’s paramount national interest.
He said the government will instead pursue the other aspects to maximize the mutual benefits of both countries.
Also brought up during Yasay’s confirmation hearing was the ability of the government to save migrant Filipino workers from the death row in other countries.
Yasay said that in Southeast Asia, all countries except the Philippines and Cambodia continued to impose the death penalty.
He also said that a number of signatories of the human rights council still imposed capital punishment in their countries.