SAGIP Party-list Rep. Rodante Marcoleta thinks that a Cabinet official of the Marcos administration might get bypassed by the Commission on Appointments (CA) due to lack of time.
In an interview over state-run Radyo Pilipinas over the weekend, Marcoleta noted that the CA, which he is a member of, is running out of time to confirm the appointments of some of President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr.'s handpicked Cabinet officials.
This, after the CA's hearing on Commission on Audit (COA) Chairman Gamaliel Cordoba's confirmation last Nov. 23 went nowhere and thus had to be suspended.
With Congress scheduled to go on a five-week holiday break starting Dec. 17, the CA would likely be forced to hold confirmations on multiple Cabinet officials per hearing.
"Ang resonable diyan, ang pinaka-maximum sana, dalawa sa isang araw pero mapipilitan silang tigta-tatlo, apat (The reasonable thing to do, or the maximum would be to deliberate on two officials per day, but they will be forced to have three to four on deck)," he said.
"Hindi kakayanin yan...Kaya palagay ko merong maba-bypass dito (That's undoable...that's why I think someone will get bypassed). Automatic bypass," added Marcoleta.
A Cabinet official who fail to get confirmed by the CA while Congress is in session is deemed bypassed and would need to be reappointment by the executive.
"Pero wala tayong magagawa...kailangan nating busisiin naman. Huwag naman yung mabilisan na para namang wholesale deliberation, mahirap naman yun (But we can't do anything about that...we need to scrutinize them. We don't want hastened, wholesale deliberationsl)," noted Marcoleta, a former deputy speaker.
The CA is composed of several members of the House and Senate, which in turn make up Philippine Congress.
Among those awaiting confirmation by the panel according to Marcoleta are Deparment of Trade and Industry (DTI) Secretary Alfredo Pascual, Department of Energy (DOE) Secretary Raphael Lotilla, National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) Director-General Arsenio Balisacan, Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) Secretary Ivan Uy, Department of Migrant Workers (DMW) Secretary Susan Ople, and Department of Human Settlements and Urban Development (DHSUD) Secretary Jose Acuzar.