The powerful 25-member Commission on Appointments (CA) confirmed today the appointment of Ma. Susana ‘’Toots’’ Vasquez Ople as the first secretary of the newly-created Department of Migrant Workers (DMW) and Gamaliel Asis Cordoba as Commission on Audit (COA) chairman.
The CA energy committee chaired by Senate President Pro Tempore Loren Legarda suspended Tuesday the confirmation process for Department of Energy (DOE) Raphael Pepetuo Lotilla due to lack of material time.
“On the motion of the (Assistant) Majority Leader (Senator Joseph Victor “JV” Ejercito), we suspend the deliberation on the ad interim appointment of Raphael Lotilla, secretary, Department of Energy, to resume until further notice,,’’ she said.
The confirmation of the appointments of Ople and Cordoba was made in today’s CA plenary session presided by Senate President Juan Miguel Zubiri, concurrent CA chairman.
The CA panel on constitutional commissions and offices chaired by Senator Cynthia A. Villar deliberated and recommended Cordoba’s appointment for confirmation.
The Villar committee started deliberating on Cordoba’s appointment last week but was suspended following a heated exchange between Senator Risa Hontiveros and Sagip Party-list Representative Rodante Marcoleta on Cordoba’s refusal to give the go-signal to ABS-CBN to resume TV network operations because its congressional franchise has expired.
Cordoba stressed that he followed Philippine jurisprudence in refusing to allow the giant telecommunications firm to resume operation because it had no franchise.
He said there are around 4,000 pending cases in the COA and he believes that they might resolve it in two years.
Cordoba’s term expires in February, 2029. He replaced Jose Calida.
On a query by Hontiveros, Cordoba said the COA could issue notice of suspension to the Department of Health should it refuse to submit documents on the real cost of importing billions of pesos worth Covid-19 vaccines entered into by the Philippine government and foreign drug companies. The Philippines is bound to keep the cost of vaccines due to its ‘’non-disclosure agreements’’ (NDAs) with the drug companies.
If the DOH continues to refuse, the COA could then issue a subpoena for the submission of documents that it needs for the financial audit of government expenditures including loans granted to the Philippines by the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank (ADB), Cordoba pointed out.
During CA committee hearing, Senator Francis “Tol” N. Tolentino expressed his full support for the confirmation of Cordoba as COA chairman
Tolentino stressed that COA reports are being used by many individuals against elected government officials.
He said: “COA report should really be seen as a tool for good governance and not just a means or a weapon for harassment. It can be done, it should be done... that positive COA audit report should be coming out from your office as a tool for development not just a tool for harassment and proliferation of negativity especially among local chief executives.”
Tolentino, being a former local chief executive, sympathized with many local officials who have been harassed, besmirched and victimized using the COA reports.
“On the motion of the (Assistant) Majority Leader (Senator Joseph Victor “JV” Ejercito), we suspend the deliberation on the ad interim appointment of Raphael Lotilla, secretary, Department of Energy, to resume until further notice,’’ she said.
The CA panel has to tackle the opposition to Lotilla’s appointment filed by former DOE Under-secretary Petronilo Ilagan, now president of the National Association of Electricity Consumer for Reforms (Nasecor).
Earlier, Legarda said the mandate of the DOE secretary is to prepare, integrate, coordinate, supervise and control all plans, programs, projects, activities of the state relative to energy exploration, development, utilization, distribution and conservation.
`“The department requires a leader who can champion sustainable energy policies while steering the energy industry towards becoming energy resilient and independent in the face of both energy crisis, a climate crisis and a spate of oil price hikes,” Legarda said.
Representative Greg Gasataya, chairman of the CA labor committee, said there were 26 different groups and organisations that threw their support for Ople’s confirmation.
Zubiri said that if anyone is to be chosen for the job as DMW secretary in the labor sector, the choice is none other than Ople.
Senator Jose ‘’Jinggoy’’ Ejercito Estrada said President Marcos’s appointment of Ople ‘’is the perfect choice.’’
CA Majority Leader Congressman LRay Villafuerte sees Ople as one who would continue the legacy of her father, the late Senate President Blas F. Ople who held the post as labor secretary in the 70s and early 80s. and later as foreign affairs secretary.
Ople has been hailed as the woman tailor-fitted for the job.
During the committee hearing, she said: “Mr. Chairman, Your Honors, when my father – the late and former DFA Secretary Senate President Ka Blas Ople – died on December 14, 2013, I pledged to dedicate my life to helping our migrant workers. It was and continues to be my way of honoring him, of keeping him close to me, and remembering the legacy he worked hard for.’’