The foreign affairs committee of the powerful Commission on Appointments (CA) deferred Wednesday, February 22, deliberations on the nomination of an envoy to Papua New Guinea.
Senator Jinggoy Ejercito Estrada, committee chairman, deferred the nomination of Bienvenido Tejano until the sexual charges lodged against him are cleared up.
Tejano is nominated as Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to the Independent State of Papua New Guinea, with concurrent jurisdiction over the Republic of Kiribati and Solomon Islands.
"Since it is very clear that Ambassador Tejano is holding several information for us, and I think it would be embarrassing for him to divulge this information in public… therefore, I move that we defer the appointment of Mr. Tejano until such time the issues have been cleared,” Surigao del Sur 2nd District Representative Johnny Pimentel said.
When no one objected, Estrada deferred committee deliberation on Tejano’s nomination.
Senator Risa Hontiveros tried to elicit answers from Tejano on previous cases lodged against him, citing reports alleging that he “invoked diplomatic immunity to escape charges in one of those cases.”
Tejano claimed this was not true.
He said that a Filipina businesswoman, whom he refused to help as it would endanger her welfare, accused him of sexual assault.
Pimentel rebutted Tejano’s claim by saying that it was Tejano’s former Filipino domestic helper, not a businesswoman.
He noted that the case was dismissed because of technicality.
"The case was dismissed on a technicality because of the prescription period. The court alleged na matagal na masyado (that it is long overdue). But, the dismissal does not prove your innocence,” he pointed out.