CA to still hold hearings on 3 Cabinet members

The Commission on Appointments (CA) confirmation hearings for three members of the Cabinet would continue despite their submission of their courtesy resignations to President Marcos.

Surigao del Sur Rep. Johnny Pimentel, CA assistant minority leader, said that the CA scrutiny of the ad interim appointments of Transportation Secretary Vince Dizon; Information and Communications Technology Secretary Henry Rhoel Aguda; and Presidential Communications Office Secretary Jaybee Ruiz, would proceed as scheduled on June 3 when the 19th Congress resumes its sessions.

According to Pimentel, who was elected Surigao del Sur governor in the midterm polls, “Unless the President formally withdraws the ad interim appointments of the three Cabinet members under review, the CA committees are expected to move forward with the hearings on June 3.”

He pointed out that before Mr. Marcos’ May 22 call for his Cabinet’s courtesy resignations, the CA had already scheduled three committee meetings on June 3 to deliberate on the ad interim appointments of Dizon, Aguda, and Ruiz.

“A courtesy resignation is not the same as a formal resignation. It is simply an offer to vacate one’s position, which the President may choose to accept or reject,” Pimentel said.

He emphasized that the three Cabinet members were not deemed resigned by default, saying, “Their ad interim appointments remain valid unless the President formally withdraws them or the CA disapproves or bypasses them.”

“A courtesy resignation does not, by itself, invalidate an ad interim appointment,” he said.

The CA, made up of 12 members, each from the Senate and the House of Representatives and chaired by the Senate President as ex officio presiding officer, is constitutionally mandated to confirm or reject key presidential appointments based on merit and integrity.

Ahead of adjournment

The confirmation hearings are expected to be one of the last acts of the 19th Congress, which is set to adjourn sine die on June 13, 30 days before the 20th Congress convenes on the fourth Monday of July (July 28 this year) as required by the Constitution.

The President is also mandated to report his annual State of the Nation address on the same date.

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While final positions in the 20th Congress cannot be determined until after it convenes, observers predict that the ruling coalition will continue to hold a “supermajority” in the House and the speaker will still be incumbent Speaker and Leyte Rep. Martin Romualdez.

The coalition counts the Lakas-Christian Muslim Democrats (Lakas) party, National Unity Party (NUP), Nationalist People’s Coalition (NPC) and President Marcos’ Partido Federal ng Pilipinas (PFP).

The big winners in the House last May were Lakas, which gained 77 more seats, and Mr. Marcos’ PFP with 25 more seats. The NUP won two less seats and the NPC had four less seats.

In the Senate, the ruling coalition won six committed majority votes in addition to the nine senators (including Senators Imee Marcos, Ronald dela Rosa and Christopher Go) who count themselves as being in the majority, with only two senators in the minority.

However, party affiliations are more volatile in the Senate, with senators choosing their positions on national issues as they see fit.