EDITORIAL - Ignoring oversight

President Arroyo is unlikely to sign into law a Senate bill that seeks to clip her power to reappoint to her heart’s content Cabinet members bypassed by the Commission on Appointments. But the fact that such a bill had to be filed is yet another reminder of how the oversight function of Congress has been eroded under this administration.

The bill, filed by Senate Minority Leader Aquilino Pimentel Jr., seeks to limit to two the reappointment of Cabinet members bypassed by the CA. Malacañang pointed out that the appointment of trusted people to the Cabinet is a presidential prerogative. As in all executive powers and prerogatives, however, there is a check-and-balance system that must not be ignored. Corazon Aquino, for example, heeded congressional sentiment on appointments, letting go of Cabinet nominees who were bypassed up to three times by the CA.

In the erosion of CA power, the executive is not entirely to blame. Oversight functions cannot be abused, but in recent years, the CA has been rocked by scandals regarding the process of screening presidential nominees. In the most notorious case, the father of Finance Secretary Margarito Teves publicly lamented that some members of the CA contingent from the House of Representatives had demanded money or other favors from his son in exchange for the CA’s nod. With that kind of horse-trading, Malacañang cannot be blamed for ignoring the CA.

But even Palace officials should see something irregular in the reappointment of Cabinet members who have been bypassed many times over two or more years by the CA. If there is no limit to the number of times a chief executive can reappoint Cabinet members, the CA should simply be abolished because its deliberations would be nothing but an exercise in futility. With Pimentel’s bill, a compromise may be reached in the confirmation process. Both the executive and legislative branches must be compelled to wield their prerogatives and functions with responsibility.