Orly won't have problem with CA, says lawmaker

MANILA, Philippines – Being a former senator and Cabinet member during the interrupted term of deposed President Joseph Estrada, veteran broadcaster Orlando Mercado’s appointment as the country’s ambassador to China will most likely breeze through the Commission on Appointments.

Cebu Rep. Eduardo Gullas, acting head of the 12-man House contingent to the bicameral body, hinted that their Senate counterparts may “accord him courtesy, in view of his stature as a former member of the Upper House.”

“Having been a former CA member himself when he was in the Senate, I am sure Senator Mercado will have no problem fulfilling the requirements of the confirmation process,” Gullas said in a statement, but stressed that “with respect to the House contingent, we decide collectively on every appointment, after a fair hearing.” 

“Our political, economic and people-to-people relations with China are definitely great. It is only fitting that we have an ambassador there of considerable stature and experience,” Gullas said of Mercado, who served as defense secretary during Estrada’s term in 1998.

“There is no question China is of enormous strategic value to us going forward, both as a potential source of incremental (foreign) direct investments, and as a rapidly growing huge market for (Philippine) merchandise exports and services,” he added.

China forms part of the so-called BRIC countries (along with Brazil, Russia and India) that are expected to continue to drive global economic expansion in the years ahead, owing to their exceptionally high growth rates.

Mercado – who is now president of the government-sequestered Radio Philippines Network Inc. (RPN-9) – served as senator from 1987 to 1998. He tried to return to the Senate in 2004, but lost. – With Jose Rodel Clapano