DPWH chief gets nod from CA

MANILA, Philippines — The Commission on Appointments (CA) has confirmed the appointment of Public Works Secretary Manuel Bonoan, who was tasked to continue the “build build build” program through the “build better more.”

Senate President and CA chair Juan Miguel Zubiri said the commission approved the appointment of Bonoan as he is fit for the job and loved by his peers at the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH).

“He comes in as secretary or public servant who does not need the learning curve because he grew up in the ranks of the DPWH. The people are safe with this gentleman and I’m proud to move to act on the motion. There is no objection, the interim appointment of Secretary Manuel Bonoan is hereby confirmed and approved,” Zubiri said as he banged the gavel.

Bonoan was assistant secretary during the Ramos administration and undersecretary during the Estrada and Arroyo administrations.

He later became the president of the Skyway O&M Corp., managing the operations of tollways, Skyway, NAIA Expressway, South Luzon Expressway, Tarlac-Pangasinan-La Union Expressway and Southern Tagalog Arterial Road, before heading SMC Tollways.

Bonoan hails from Ilocos Norte, Marcos’ bailiwick.

During the deliberations on Bonoan’s appointment, Sen. Imee Marcos questioned the P32-million receivables reflected in his statement of assets, liabilities and net worth (SALN) dated June 30, 2022.

Bonoan explained that most parts of the receivables were unpaid pensions of his retirement from San Miguel Corp. while the others were from his private business.

Sen. Grace Poe asked Bonoan to prioritize inter-regional connectivity projects to allow seamless travel and help bring down the costs of transporting goods.

Poe cited specific projects such as bridges that would link the provinces of Iloilo and Guimaras, and Batangas and Mindoro.

Poe expressed confidence the projects would come to completion to make transportation more efficient, especially those in the provinces.

Bonoan said that several inter-island connectivity projects are being lined up, noting the Iloilo-Guimaras network and the Guimaras to Pulupandan in Negros projects are in the preparation stage.

He said the first phase of the project would be under the Official Development Assistance (ODA) of the Korean Eximbank.

The 37-kilometer Cavite to Mariveles bridging project, which is under the Asian Development Bank’s ODA, is about 70 percent complete in engineering works.

Construction is expected to start in the middle of 2023.

Sen. JV Ejercito urged Bonoan to prioritize high-impact projects to stimulate economic growth, citing floods in a barangay in San Juan City, which he said could have been prevented by the rehabilitation of the drainage system and construction of flood control, among others.

Cavite Rep. Lani Mercado expressed hope Bonoan would ensure the completion of the Bacoor diversion road, the LRT Line 1 extension, the various flood control projects and the bridge that would connect Cavite to Bataan. She said the projects would generate jobs.

Almost all members of the CA present during the plenary session expressed support for Bonoan, who vowed to work out and implement flood control programs as well as integrated and seamless road network systems for livable, sustainable and resilient communities.

2 nominees a week

While the CA is pressed for time, Zubiri asked his colleagues to keep the deliberations of appointments to two nominees a week.

In the past, even the Senate sessions had to be held later than its 3 p.m. regular schedule to accommodate the CA deliberations.

The CA is scheduled to deliberate today on the nominations of Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin, who also heads the presidential communications offices under the Office of the President and the Philippine Space Agency; Finance Secretary Benjamin Diokno and Commission on Audit Chairman Gamaliel Cordoba.

The CA has received the nomination of Evangelina Lourdes “Luli” Arroyo as ambassador to Austria.

Luli is the daughter of former president and Pampanga Rep. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.

Another nomination pending with the CA is that of Jaime FlorCruz as ambassador to China.

FlorCruz, an activist turned journalist who found refuge in China, is among the new diplomats of President Marcos.

FlorCruz, former bureau chief of CNN, was on a study grant to China along with the late Chito Sta. Romana when martial law was declared in 1972, which forced them to remain there.

Sta. Romana was ambassador to China during the Duterte presidency.

The CA received the nominations of the officials from Oct. 6 to Nov. 7, including those of 12 Cabinet secretaries as well as of other foreign service and military officers.

Among these nominations are those of Secretaries Ivan John Uy for information and communications technology, Maria Susana Ople for migrant workers, Raphael Perpetuo Lotila for energy and Renato Solidum for science and technology.

Also included are Secretaries Jaime Bautista for transportation, Alfredo Pascual for trade and industry, Jose Acuzar for human settlements and Arsenio Balisacan for the National Economic and Development Authority.

Zubiri said the CA was not able to immediately tackle the nominations of the members of Marcos’ Cabinet as the Senate prioritized the hearings of the proposed P5.268-trillion budget for 2023.

Deferred

The CA deferred the approval of the appointment of Social Welfare and Development Secretary Erwin Tulfo pending experts’ opinion on issues involving his citizenship and his conviction on four counts of libel.

Camarines Sur Rep. L-Ray Villafuerte, as CA Majority Leader, moved to defer the deliberation on the appointment of Tulfo.

The CA listened for almost an hour to Tulfo’s explanation on issues regarding his citizenship and his conviction for libel.

Lawmakers asked if Tulfo had denounced his Filipino citizenship because he is an enlisted personnel of the US Army and was in active military service in Europe from 1992 to1996.

Bacolod Rep. Greg Gasataya, CA panel chairman, said Tulfo requested an executive session.

SAGIP Party-list Rep. Rodante Marcoleta raised the issue of Tulfo’s libel conviction, which the DSWD chief admitted and clarified that such an offense was related to his job as a journalist.

“I wrote a story about a government official. I had my source and the court wanted me to divulge my sources, but I did not. It went up to the Court of Appeals and the Supreme Court. That was a case in line with my work as a journalist and one of the hazards of the trade,” he said.

Marcoleta said Tulfo was convicted of the offense that has something to do with moral turpitude as ruled by the SC.

Sen. Francis Escudero manifested that there were several pending bills that are pushing to decriminalize libel, one of which he authored.

‘Fake news’

Meanwhile, Finance Secretary Benjamin Diokno shrugged off reports that he would be replaced by Albay Rep. Joey Salceda as finance chief, saying his relationship with Marcos remains “very good.”

Diokno made the statement on the sidelines of the Pilipinas Conference 2022 of the Stratbase ADR Institute on yesterday.

“I don’t know where this is coming from. I’m old enough in this game to even bother about this,” Diokno told journalists.

Marcos also denied the report, saying it was fake news. He praised his economic team and said it would be a “very very poor” time to make personnel changes.?Earlier, online reports said Marcos is planning to replace Diokno due to “incompetence” and was considering Salceda as finance chief.

The reports cited Marcos’ decision to replace Lilia Guillermo – Diokno’s choice as internal revenue chief – with his godson, tax lawyer Romeo Lumagui Jr.

Diokno maintained that he is friends with Salceda and is even part of their clique group FFF or Friday Friends Forever.

Salceda has denied the rumor, saying Diokno is a friend and that he will continue to work closely with the finance chief.

Diokno was budget secretary during the administrations of former presidents Joseph Estrada and Rodrigo Duterte.

He was appointed by Duterte as governor of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas in 2019. Diokno returned to the executive branch this year with his appointment as finance secretary. – Louise Maureen Simeon, Alexis Romero