4 Cabinet men get CA nod

MANILA, Philippines – The Commission on Appointments (CA) confirmed yesterday four members of President Duterte’s Cabinet in marathon hearings at the Senate.

Confirmed were Energy Secretary Alfonso Cusi, Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III, Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III and Presidential Communications Office (PCO) Secretary Martin Andanar.

Cusi, whose confirmation was deferred the previous week pending the submission of some documents requested by Sen. Panfilo Lacson, was finally confirmed after complying with the requirements.

A sworn opposition was filed by a certain engineer Darwin Reci, a former employee of the Manila International Airport Authority, previously headed by Cusi, but was dismissed by the CA committee on energy after hearing his story.

On the other hand, Dominguez, whose previous stints in government was as minister of environment and natural resources and secretary of agriculture under the Corazon Aquino administration, was welcomed by CA members because of his clean profile.

Senate Minority Leader Ralph Recto, in his speech on the confirmation of Dominguez, said he is among the wisest members of the Duterte Cabinet.

“If the present crew of secretaries has been referred to as the professors who had replaced the student council, he can be considered their dean,” Recto said.

“His mere presence alone in the Cabinet is enough to calm the market and assure investors whenever The Punisher throws a tantrum,” he added, referring to the moniker given to President Duterte.

Bello, who also holds the concurrent position of presidential adviser on the peace process, has been in the government since the Ramos administration where he served as justice secretary and solicitor general.

He was also chairman of the government panel on peace talks with the Communist Party of the Philippines-New People’s Army-National Democratic Front and secretary to the Cabinet of former president and now Deputy House Speaker Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.

In the case of Andanar, while there was no opposition to his appointment, Senate President Pro Tempore Franklin Drilon questioned why his nomination was sent to the CA.

Drilon noted that in the previous administration, the Palace communications head Herminio Coloma Jr. did not go through the CA confirmation process.

CA majority leader Isabela Rep. Rodolfo Albano III said that the CA received the appointment of Andanar so the body had no choice but to take it up.

Sen. Alan Peter Cayetano said his understanding was that Andanar’s position is equivalent to the now defunct press secretary, which was then required to undergo the CA confirmation process.