CEBU, Philippines – Cebu first district Rep. Eduardo Gullas, head of the House contingent to the Commission on Appointments, said he is in no position to stop Malacañang from reinstalling Cabinet members even if they have been bypassed repeatedly.
Gullas was responding to the filing of a bill seeking to forbid the president from reappointing Cabinet members and other executives twice bypassed by the CA.
Sen. Aquilino Pimentel Jr. introduced Senate Bill 2981, citing the need for “a legislative check” on potential abuses in the presidential power to reinstate appointees.
But Gullas said Cabinet members and other officials bypassed by the CA on several occasions could, on their own accord, ask the President not to reappoint them.
“The president has the sole prerogative to designate Cabinet members and other senior executives. The CA’s duty is merely to probe whoever is endorsed to us, and to approve, or sit on the nomination. But that is really up to the appointee and the president,” Gullas said. There are 25 members of the bicameral CA.
The Constitution vests the CA with the power to approve or sit on presidential appointments, as part of institutional checks and balances. Those subject to CA confirmation are department heads, ambassadors, other public ministers and consuls, military officers from the rank of colonel or naval captain and constitutional commission heads and members.
Gullas pointed out that the officials pending confirmation all serve the executive branch under Malacañang, which the president is fully entitled to choose the people whom she wants to serve under her, subject of course to CA’s confirmation.
But then again, with only 16 months left before a new president assumes office, Gullas said the naming of new department heads “might be unwise now.”
“A Cabinet member usually needs at least six months to get accustomed to the job. So any new department heads now might not be able to achieve much anyway,” Gullas said.
The CA has repeatedly bypassed at least two Cabinet members—Energy Secretary Angelo Reyes and Environment Secretary Jose Atienza Jr.
Reyes was first named head of the Department of Energy on July 17, 2007. CA records show that since then, Reyes has been bypassed and reappointed six times. His last reinstatement was on December 20, 2008.
Before he assumed the top post at the DOE, CA records also show that Reyes was bypassed and reappointed six times as Secretary of Environment but he was never confirmed as head of the DENR.
In the case of Atienza, CA records show that he was bypassed and reappointed six times as DENR chief. His last reinstatement was also on Dec. 20, 2008.
The other Cabinet members pending CA confirmation are Economic Planning Secretary Ralph Recto and Labor Secretary Marianito Roque, both bypassed at least once, and Press Secretary Cerge Remonde, a first-time appointee.
Other officials previously bypassed and awaiting CA approval are Civil Service Commission chairman Ricardo Saludo; former Sen. Orlando Mercado, as ambassador to China; and Commission on Elections members Leonardo Leonida and Elias Yusoph.
In all, 96 executives, including 57 first-time appointees, are still awaiting CA’s confirmation. — Garry B. Lao/WAB (THE FREEMAN)