Senate Minority Leader Juan Ponce Enrile on Wednesday hit out at President Benigno Aquino III for depriving the next president the right to choose his own representatives and blocked the confirmation of seven Aquino appointees during a hearing of the Commission on Appointments.
“He is outgoing. Why is he appointing his representatives that will last in their positions for six years?” asked Enrile, referring to the five diplomats whose appointments were deferred by the powerful CA.
Enrile noted that it would be unfair to the next president if they (appointees) are appointed by Aquino three months before the May elections.
“Anyway, I will tell you, ambassador deployed abroad are representatives of the President,” said Enrile.
The diplomats who failed to get the CA approval were :
Charles Jose as ambassador extraordinary and plenipotentiary to Malaysia; Dennis Lepatan as ambassador extraordinary and plenipotentiary to the Kingdom of Norway with concurrent jurisdiction over the Republic of Iceland, the Kingdom of Denmark, the Republic of Finland, and the Kingdom of Sweden; Celia Anna Feria as ambassador extraordinary and plenipotentiary to the Kingdom of Spain with concurrent jurisdiction over the Principality of Andorra;Uriel Norman Garibay as ambassador extraordinary and plenipotentiary to the Republic of Kenya with concurrent jurisdiction over the Republic of Burundi, Union of the Comoros, Republic of Malawi, Republic of Rwanda, Republic of Seychelles, Federal Republic of Somalia, United Republic of Tanzania, Republic of Uganda, Republic of South Sudan and permanent representative to the United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP) and United Nations Human Settlements Programme; and Lilybeth Deapera as ambassador extraordinary and plenipotentiary to the Republic of Chile with concurrent jurisdiction over the Republic of Peru and the Republic of Ecuador.
Enrile also blocked the confirmation of Audit Commissioner Isabelle Dasalla-Agito and Civil Service Commissioner Nieves Osorio.
He considered their appointment as “packing system.” “They want to pack the constitutional commissions with their people. So, I have to perform my due as an opposition and a minority floor leader,” explained Enrile.
Enrile invoked Section 20 of the CA rules against the seven appointees of Aquino, which means they cannot assume their posts.
Senate President Franklin Drilon who presided over the session said Enrile’s invocation of Section 20 is undebatable.
But Drilon said after the elections, Congress will convene again. He said on May 25, they will convene again as National Board of Canvassers and after that, the CA will meet again.
The CA on national defense confirmed the ad interim appointments of 20 senior officers of the Armed Forces of the Philippines after they were grilled by Enrile on what they would have done if they were the ones in charge during the Mamasapano incident on Jan. 25, 2015.
At the start of the hearing, Enrile warned them he would invoke Section 20 of the rules to block their confirmation if they would not be truthful with their answers.
He asked Lieutenant Generals Romeo Tanalgo, Glorioso Miranda, and Mayoralgo Dela Cruz—two similar questions: First, what would you have done if you were the chief of staff during that fateful day of Jan. 25, 2015 when the 44 SAF troopers were killed during a police operation in Mamasapano, Maguindanao and whether or not they would inform their command in chief.
Tanalgo said: “I’d be directing our forces, the unit on the ground to provide the necessary assistance, to reinforce, to try to extricate the beleaguered troops if we’re talking of the Mamasapano incident.”
“Would you have as a matter of duty informed your commander in chief?” Enrile asked again, to which Tanalgo gave an affirmative reply.
The senator asked Miranda what would he have done if he were the vice chief of staff of the Western Mindanao Command if he learned about the plight of the 44 SAF men.
Miranda said he would direct his ground commander to support and save the lives of their comrades “in order to make the mission more successful.”
Thrown the same question, Dela Cruz replied: “Your honors, I will direct my subordinate commander to extend all the necessary assistance to help our comrades in uniform sir and I’ll also inform my chief of staff as well as the Secretary of National Defense and the commander in chief, Sir,” he said.