CA confirms appointments of defense and DoTC chiefs

MANILA — The Commission on Appointments confirmed on Wednesday the ad interim appointments of Voltaire Gazmin as Secretary of the Department of National Defense and Jose ‘Ping’ de Jesus as Secretary of the Department of Transportation and Communications.

Now that the issue of alleged corruption in the military has been set aside, Gazmin easily earned the nod of the CA members when committee on national defense chairman Congressman Antonio del Rosario endorsed his confirmation on the floor.

”It’s not that I really found no resistance from the CA members but it was able to explain and to submit the documents which are necessary as requirement,” Gazmin, the 35th DND chief, said.

Among the issues he clarified before the CA panel include the pension plan of the Armed Forces of the Philippines, the veterans’ concerns and the acquisition of the C-130 aircraft.

Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile, chairman of the powerful commission, said the military corruption has nothing to do with Gazmin’s confirmation since it is being handled by the Senate blue ribbon and by its counterpart committee at the House of Representatives.

The issues of irregularities in the military have not also affected the approval in the plenary the ad interim reappointments of Armed Forces chief of staff Ricardo David, who is set to retire on March 8, Lieutenant General Gaudencio Pangilinan Jr., Vice Admiral Mario Catacutan, Lt. Gen. Arturo Ortiz, Lt. Gen. Eduardo Oban and Lt. Gen. Juancho Saban.

”The corruption in the AFP has nothing to do with the senior officers that were confirmed. We have scrutinized their individuals service records and backgrounds and we have not seen anything that would arouse our doubts and suspicions,” Enrile said.

For his part, CA member Senator Gregorio Honasan believes that Gazmin as well as the six AFP officials have been confirmed “because the nominees are qualified.”

Like Gazmin, De Jesus also easily hurdled the CA plenary although he was scrutinized at the CA committee on transportation and communication deliberations on the issue of Stradcom and Land Transportation Office relationship.

The CA panel members urged De Jesus to address the issue to make sure that the government will be able to refund the money paid for the cancelled radio frequency identification project.

De Jesus, a former secretary of the Department of Public Works and Highways during the time of former President Fidel V. Ramos, vowed to resolve the problem which De Jesus inherited from the previous administration.

”That was the consensus of the commission,” said Honasan, a former military colonel who played key role in the successful EDSA People Power that toppled the dictatorship of former President Ferdinand Marcos exactly 25 years ago on Friday.

Meanwhile, the CA panel postponed the endorsement of the confirmation of Lt. Gen. Ralph Villanueva upon request of Senator Jinggoy Estrada.

Others who were already confirmed by the CA are: Secretaries Rosalinda Baldoz of Department of Labor and Employment, Mario Montejo of Department of Science and Technology, Enrique Ona of Department of Health, Rogelio Singson of Public Works and Highway, Ramon Paje of Environment and Natural Resources, Proceso Alcala of agriculture, Alberto Lim of Tourism, Jose Rene Almendras of Energy, Gregory Domingo of Trade and Industry, Armin Luistro of Education and Executive Secretary Paquito Ochoa.

Meanwhile, CA committee on labor, employment and social welfare is set to deliberate the ad interim appointment of Corazon ‘Dinky’ Juliano-Soliman as secretary of the Department of Social Welfare and Development on March 2.