Taguiwalo: Why, CA?

MANILA, Philippines - Former social welfare secretary Judy Taguiwalo wants the Commission on Appointments (CA) to give the reason for the rejection of her nomination.

In media interviews, Taguiwalo said she deserved “candor and frankness” from the CA members who voted against her confirmation on Wednesday.

Taguiwalo said that given her one year of faithful service in the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD), the least that the CA could do is be honest.

“I did not get any reason for my rejection so I said, at least they give me a reason as a going away gift,” Taguiwalo said in Filipino yesterday over radio dzMM.

The former DSWD chief pointed out that the CA took pains in explaining their reasons for rejecting then environment secretary Gina Lopez.

Malacañang has yet to appoint an officer-in-charge or a replacement  to take over the department.

Confidential appointees at the Office of the Secretary will be leaving with Taguiwalo but the five undersecretaries appointed by President Duterte will remain at the DSWD since they are co-terminus with their appointing authority.

Transparency

The CA voting is done through secret balloting. Of the 25 CA members, 13 voted to reject Taguiwalo. Only those who voted to confirm her came out to explain why she deserved to be DSWD chief.

Vice President Leni Robredo underscored the need for transparency and citizen engagement in the decisions made by the CA.

During the “Freedom Cycle” press conference in Naga City, Robredo said this would avoid frustrations among the appointees and the public who were fighting the same causes as the ones rejected.

She said it was important to “express outrage” and call the attention of CA members so they would not abuse their mandate.

But while not all may agree with the decision, Robredo acknowledged the rejection of Cabinet appointments is part of the democratic process and it must be respected.

“The confirmation is a political process, isn’t it? It is meant as a check-and-balance mechanism vis-à-vis the power of the President to appoint,” Robredo said.

Sen. Sonny Angara said he would support an amendment of the rule of the CA regarding secret balloting in the spirit of transparency.

“I’m OK with that. I think it will serve the public interest,” Angara said.

Not really pork

Davao Oriental Joel Mayo Almario, chairman of the CA committee that rejected the appointment of Taguiwalo, said her stand against “pork” had nothing to do with their decision.

But Sen. Joseph Victor Ejercito blamed traditional and partisan politics for Taguiwalo’s removal from the DSWD.

“The pork barrel was never discussed in the CA deliberations for secretary Taguiwalo simply because there is no pork or PDAF (Priority Development Assistance Fund) in the DSWD or any other agency,” Almario said.

He said the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) had removed or itemized all pork barrel funds in the national budget after the Supreme Court declared the PDAF as unconstitutional in November 2013.

Because of the ruling, the DBM and the lawmakers itemized what used to be pork barrel or lump sum funds allocated to congressional districts and distribute these among conduit agencies, including the DSWD, which handles financial assistance for the House members’ indigent constituents.

However, Taguiwalo had treated such funds as part of the budget of her own department and subject to her and her underlings’ disposal. These were not “entitlements” of lawmakers and everyone who needed financial help had access to them, she said.

She had directed her field personnel to ignore endorsement letters from lawmakers, other politicians and members of the judiciary.

Almario heads the committee on social welfare and labor and employment that voted to reject Taguiwalo’s appointment.

The CA, in plenary session on Wednesday, sustained the committee’s vote.

“The CA members did their homework of scrutinizing the appointee’s background, present disposition and plans in helping the Duterte administration,” Almario said.

“I can only guess from the questions raised that maybe, some factors which led to the rejection of her appointment were her stand against tax reform and the national ID system,” he said.

Almario said he found Taguiwalo qualified for the job of DSWD secretary.

“But as the committee chairman, even if my yes vote is different from the majority vote, I have to adhere, abide and announce the collective decision of the majority,” he added.

Members of his panel cast their votes through secret ballot “according to his/her conscience and not to external pressure,” Almario explained.

Taguiwalo told reporters on Wednesday that her stand against lawmakers’ pork entitlements or the Duterte administration’s tax reform could be the reason for her rejection.

“I was not privy to the deliberations. That’s only my conjecture. What else do they want from me? I never stole money, in terms of service delivery, we tried our best to provide immediately… What I did was I stood by the decision of the Supreme Court that there should be no pork barrel,” she said. 

Earlier, she also said the Duterte administration-proposed P6 tax on diesel, kerosene, cooking gas and bunker oil for electricity generation would make her poor constituents poorer.

The tax is part of the administration’s so-called tax reform package.

Personal, business interests

In a statement posted on his Facebook page, Ejercito said the experience of Taguiwalo was very much the same as what happened to Lopez, who was widely praised for her passion but ended up also being rejected by the CA.

Ejercito claimed that in both cases, it was personal interests by some members of the CA that influenced the vote to reject both appointees of President Duterte.

Specifically, he named San Juan City Rep. Ronaldo Zamora, the vice chairman and head of the House contingent in the CA, for what happened to Taguiwalo and Lopez.

“Personal and business interests were the primary consideration in these two instances. It was very obvious,” Ejercito said in Filipino.

In the case of Lopez, Ejercito said it was her strong stance against mining that led to her rejection by the CA because Zamora is linked to one of the biggest mining firms in the country.

As for Taguiwalo, Ejercito said it was her refusal to allow legislators to interfere with the use of the DSWD’s funds that sealed her fate.

He said the funds for the conditional cash transfer program being administered by the DSWD were being used for patronage politics by some legislators and Taguiwalo would not have any of this under her watch.  – With Marvin Sy, Evelyn Macairan, Pia Lee-Brago