CA defers confirmation of PH Space Agency head
The Commission on Appointments (CA) on Tuesday deferred the confirmation of Joel Joseph Marciano Jr. as director general of the Philippine Space Agency (PhilSA) due to questions about his qualifications and the agency’s performance.
“Sorry to say I don’t see you fit to handle the job,” said Commission on Appointments (CA) Majority Leader Rep. Lray Villafuerte, who moved for the deferment after he expressed frustration over Marciano’s failure to provide satisfactory answers on PhilSA’s role in agriculture and disaster mitigation, and its apparent inability to share vital satellite data with local governments.
“I have nothing against you or the agency. I’m just frustrated that there are provinces already projected to have La Niña flooding, which can be the cause of deaths, which can be the cause of agricultural effect, and yet you are not sharing that data,” he said.
“If those provinces experience floods and there are casualties, you should be indirectly responsible for not sharing that data … You have the data, yet you are not proactively distributing it to [local governments], which are on the front lines of disaster response,” he added.
Low profile
Villafuerte also asked Marciano to enumerate provinces that would be affected by La Niña based on PhilSA satellite data. While Marciano was able to mention some, Villafuerte was not satisfied.
“To be honest, if you did not appear in the CA, we will never hear from you. I don’t even hear any statements in the press about the PhilSA. To be honest, the country does not even know that there is a PhilSA,” the Camarines Sur lawnaker said.
He said PhilSA should be taking a more active role in terms of disaster prevention as he also noted Marciano’s apparent lack of formal training in space technology.
But Marciano, an electrical engineer who has been leading PhilSA since its creation in 2019, cited his experience in leading satellite development programs under the Department of Science and Technology from 2014 to 2020.
