The bicameral Commission on Appointments (CA) confirmed today Sept. 27 the appointments of three members of the Marcos Cabinet.
They are Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) Secretary Conrado M. Estrella III; Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) Secretary Ma. Antonia ‘’Toni’’ Yulo Loyzaga; and Department of Tourism (DOT) Secretary Ma. Esperanza Christina Codilla Frasco.
Estrella was recommended for confirmation by the CA agrarian reform committee chaired by Senator Nancy Binay while Loyzaga was recommended by Senator Loren Legarda, chairwoman of the CA environment committee. Frasco was recommended by the CA tourism committee chaired by Representative Jose Gay Padiernos.
When Representative Rodante Marcoleta asked whether Yulo has divested from the entities or corporations under her or family’s name, Senator Cynthia A. Villar said one does not divest from inheritance.
Senate President Juan Miguel Zubiri said Yulo-Loyzaga belongs to the rich Yulo family in the 50s to 60s ‘’and would never accept a single centavo.’’
Zubiri threw 101 percent of his support for Loyzaga’s confirmation.
Legarda expressed her appreciation for the nomination of Yulo-Loyzaga who understands that decisions related to the environment must be based on science and that resilience must be done not just by one government agency but by every agency for a whole- of-government and whole-of-nation approach.
“I welcome you to government and thank you for taking the sacrifice...” Legarda said.
Senator Grace Poe said that one of the biggest problems of the environment in our country is really trash.
‘’And we know that other progressive countries have found a way to manage it by incineration. Thailand does it. Advanced European countries do it, too,’’ she said.
‘’And not that I'm in support of this at this point, but may I request the good Secretary to please submit to us the studies being done by the DENR with regard to incineration and if I may ask her now if she is open to study the possibility of having that in our country,’’ she pointed out.
‘’Because as you see, when we dump trash in an open area, that eventually will also seep into the soil; and sometimes they dump it near beaches that obviously will go to the ocean as well. So weighing the disadvantage and advantage of that with regard to the environment, may I ask the good Secretary what she thinks about possibly having this policy in the near future,’’ she added.
Senator Risa Hontiveros quizzed Estrella on his plans for the remaining land acquisition and distribution (LAD) balance .
CA committee hearing, Hontiveros asked Estrella’s plans to accelerate and complete the LAD during the term of the Marcos administration.
She pointed out that the previous Duterte administration targeted to complete the LAD of almost 550,000 hectares of agricultural land.
Data from the Department of Agrarian Reform showed that the workable balance as of June 30 was 173,344 hectares of land.
“How will you combine the foolishness of the old and the wisdom of the new in your team to implement and accelerate the remaining LAD balance?” the senator asked.
In response, Estrella pointed out that the department, under his leadership, would prioritize the speedy resolution of legal cases of contested lands and also speed up land validation.