Three committees of the Commission on Appointment (CA) have endorsed the appointments of three Cabinet officials, namely Transportation Secretary Jaime Bautista, Housing Secretary Jose Rizalino Acuzar and Socio-economic planning Secretary Arsenio Balisacan.
The CA Committee on Transportation chaired by Rep. Lani Mercado-Revilla endorsed the ad interim appointment of Bautista as Department of Transportation (DOTr) secretary.
The CA committee on Human Settlements and Urban Development chaired by Sen. Joseph Victor “JV” Ejercito also endorsed the nomination of Acuzar as secretary of the Department of Human Settlements and Urban Development (DHSUD).
The CA committee on Tourism and Development chaired by Rep. Jose Padiernos also endorsed the ad interim appointment of Arsenio Balisacan as secretary of the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA).
The CA panel had earlier suspended hearing Bautista’s confirmation.
Senate President Juan Miguel “Migz” Zubiri described Bautista as a “responsible and reputable fellow” who does not need to go through the learning curve.”
“Bautista knows his stuff even when he is sleeping. He thinks about the transport problem in the country and we need him now because of the traffic congestion because of the Christmas season. We need him to focus on his job,” Zubiri said.