Palace: Climate Change official has fixed term

MANILA, Philippines - Malacañang clarified yesterday that Climate Change Commission vice chairman Heherson Alvarez has a fixed six-year term and President Aquino, chairman of the commission, could not easily replace Alvarez.

The appointment of Alvarez, a close friend and ally of Aquino’s late father, Sen. Benigno Aquino Jr., was clarified after an apparent disagreement over which country the Philippines would endorse to host the Climate Summit in 2012.

Alvarez reportedly picked South Korea to host the summit while the Department of Foreign Affairs has endorsed Qatar.

Deputy presidential spokesperson Abigail Valte told government radio station dzRB that insofar as the Palace is concerned, Alvarez’s appointment is still valid.

The Climate Change Commission was created by former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo who appointed Alvarez to his post with a fixed term until December 2015.

Valte said she still has to check whether the appointment of Alvarez, a former senator and environment secretary, has defects similar to the so-called midnight appointees of Arroyo, now a Pampanga congresswoman.

Valte said it was unclear to her when Alvarez was appointed, as there was a “conflict as to the month he was appointed.”

She said they still have to check whether there indeed has been a mix-up before the Palace can issue a statement on the matter.