Teodoro, Herbosa confirmations can't be tackled yet, says CA exec
Surigao del Sur 2nd district Rep. Johnny Pimentel (Facebook)
The Commission on Appointments (CA) has received the appointment papers of Gilberto "Gibo" Teodoro Jr. and Teodoro Herbosa, but the bicameral body won't be able to tackle them just yet. According to Surigao del Sur 2nd district Rep. Johnny Pimentel, the confirmation process will resume upon the turn of sessions next month. Earlier this month, Teodoro was designated as Department of National Defense (DND) secretary while Herbosa was named Department of Health (DOH) secretary. “The June 6 ad interim appointment papers of the two Cabinet secretaries were both received by the CA on June 8,” Pimentel confirmed. “The CA won’t be able to tackle their appointments for now because Congress is adjourned. We are not in session,” he noted. The first regular session of the 19th Congress adjourned on June 3, and the second session won't commence until July 24. At any rate, Pimentel, a senior stalwart of the Partido Demokratiko Pilipino-Lakas ng Bayan (PDP-Laban) in the House of Representatives, said that the ad interim appointments have "immediate effect". “An ad interim appointment has immediate effect. Thus, the individuals who were issued ad interim appointments may enter upon the discharge of their functions right away,” Pimentel explained. An ad interim appointment ceases to be valid upon disapproval by the CA or, if not confirmed, until the next adjournment of Congress, according to Pimentel. The 25-member CA is vested by the 1987 Constitution with the power to screen the competence, fitness and integrity of key presidential appointees, and to approve or disapprove them. Under the 1987 Constitution, President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. is empowered to issue key appointments while Congress is not in session, and such appointments are called ad interim appointments. The following presidential appointees are subject to CA confirmation: heads of executive departments; ambassadors, other public ministers and consuls; officers of the Armed Forces from the rank of colonel or naval captain; regular members of the JBC; chairpersons and commissioners of the Civil Service Commission (CSC), Commission on Elections (Comelec), and the Commission on Audit (COA). The first regular session lasted from July 25, 2022 to May 31, 2023.