New AFP chief gets CA nod

The Commission on Appointments confirmed yesterday the promotion of Gen. Dionisio Santiago as Armed Forces chief.

Santiago, the Philippine Army chief before his appointment, had a virtually trouble-free confirmation hearing at the CA committee on national defense headed by Camiguin Rep. Jurdin Jesus Romualdo.

Santiago, a member of the Philippine Military Academy Class ’70, will serve for five months. He replaced Gen. Benjamin Defensor who retired last Nov. 28 after serving for only four months.

He is reportedly popular with the Arroyo administration for being the commanding general of the special operations command at Camp Aguinaldo at the time the Armed Forces withdrew its support from then President Joseph Estrada in January 2001.

Opposition Sen. Edgardo Angara has described him as the "point man" of anti-Estrada forces in the military.

While Santiago’s appointment was confirmed, that of Civil Service Commission Chairman Karina David was bypassed because of opposition by Southern Leyte Rep. Aniceto Saludo.

Saludo insisted that the CSC head should be a lawyer, which David was not.

The confirmation of David had been pending for about one and a-half year. Saludo had twice asked Sen. Tessie Aquino Oreta, chair of the Senate committee on constitutional offices, to defer hearing David’s appointment. Palawan Rep. Vicente Sandoval, the CA vice chairman, also asked Oreta once to postpone a scheduled confirmation hearing.

The CA will give another go to David’s confirmation, assuming she is reappointed by President Arroyo. With the adjournment of Congress for the holidays, her appointment is technically deemed bypassed and she needs a reappointment before the CA could schedule further hearings in January.