MAR GETS CA NOD, THANKS TO MIRIAM / ROXAS IS SPECIAL ENVOY TO
CHINA
[PHOTO- CONFIRMED: Interior Secretary Manuel Roxas listens as
Sen. Miriam Defensor-Santiago withdraws her opposition to his nomination,
clearing the way for the Commission on Appointments to confirm him as the new
DILG chief. NIÑO JESUS ORBETA]
MANILA,
SEPTEMBER 24, 2012 (INQUIRER) By Norman Bordadora - It's her high
IQ, Sen. Miriam Defensor-Santiago said that allowed her to remove the stumbling
block to the confirmation of Manuel Roxas II as secretary of the Department of
the Interior and Local Government (DILG).
"Mr. President, my high intelligence quotient dictates that I should
reconsider and therefore withdraw my motion," Santiago said Wednesday to the
applause of her colleagues from both Houses of Congress and of those in the
gallery.
Less than a minute after using her power to deny in the Commission on
Appointments the confirmation of Roxas, Santiago, with a buss on Roxas' cheek,
took back her veto, allowing the commission to approve the new home affairs
secretary.
Santiago, who earlier bashed Malacañang for supposedly keeping Cabinet
secretaries from attending her inquiry last week into issues surrounding former
Interior Undersecretary Rico Puno, told reporters afterward that she was
thinking of reconsidering her objection all along.
Close to Korina
"We're quite close to each other. Even his wife [broadcaster Korina Sanchez]
is very close to me," Santiago told reporters after the commission confirmed the
appointments of both Roxas and Transportation Secretary Joseph Emilio Abaya.
"So, he (Roxas) does not deserve that kind of treatment in which, as I said,
he has become collateral damage. He's innocent but he gets whacked in the head
because I'm conducting some other battle," Santiago said.
After Roxas' confirmation, Santiago joined those who seconded the approval of
the appointment of Abaya as Roxas' replacement as secretary of transportation
and communication.
The commission also confirmed the promotion of 106 military officers to
colonel or lieutenant general.
Lineage
During the proceedings, commission members adverted to the lineage of Roxas
and Abaya, who are both descendants of former Philippine Presidents—Manuel Roxas
for the new interior secretary and Emilio Aguinaldo for the new transportation
chief.
Malacañang thanked Santiago for withdrawing her objection to the appointment
of Roxas.
"We are very happy that Senator Miriam Defensor-Santiago has placed national
interest above her concerns on the snubbing of Secretary Mar Roxas. And, for
that, we thank Senator Miriam Defensor-Santiago for her magnanimous gesture,"
presidential spokesperson Edwin Lacierda said at a Palace briefing.
Lacierda said Roxas was wise enough to recognize Santiago's right to block
his nomination. "He (Roxas) was leaving it up to the Commission on Appointments
to decide," he said.
Santiago said she studied the commission's rules that provided that a nominee
who gets vetoed may not be the subject of a motion for reconsideration by
commission members if the objection happened at the committee level.
An appeal could be made, however, in his or her behalf if made in the
plenary.
"A motion for reconsideration was allowed, so I was already ready," Santiago
said, referring to the proceedings in the plenary.
"On a motion for reconsideration I'll just ask what the damage would have
been to public service. Secretary Roxas said immediately there'd be none because
he can be appointed [by the President] on Saturday," she added.
Santiago said not much would have come out of her veto of Roxas' appointment
because Congress was already about to go on recess.
"It would've amounted to nothing because as early as Saturday, under the
rules of the Constitution, the President can then issue him an ad interim
appointment and then he could take office immediately," the senator said.
Driving home message
Santiago said she only wanted to drive home the message that Malacañang
should not get in the way of a Senate inquiry.
"[As] a senator, I consider myself deeply insulted by the reaction of
Malacañang in deciding collectively among the Cabinet that they would snub my
committee hearing on a former DILG undersecretary," Santiago said in raising her
objection against Roxas' appointment.
"I now want to stand by the principle that the executive branch of the
government cannot effectively prevent the legislative branch of the government
from holding any inquiry in aid of legislation, a constitutionally protected
power, simply by agreeing among themselves that they will not show up," she
added.
Senate Majority Leader Vicente Sotto III, chairman of the Commission on
Appointments' committee on interior and local government, and who sponsored
Roxas' appointment in the plenary, then rose to ask that the proceedings be
suspended.
Upon the suspension of session, Sotto approached an already smiling Santiago
and the two of them talked with Roxas, who was just a few feet away.
Roxas gave Santigao a buss on the cheek and a few seconds later, the session
resumed.
Appeal to 'graciousness'
"I would like to appeal to the graciousness of Sen. Miriam Defensor-Santiago.
May I move or ask that the invocation of Section 20 be withdrawn," Sotto said.
[A member of the commission can invoke Section 20 and block the appointment of a
nominee.]
"It's up to the member to make a decision on that part," said Senate
President Juan Ponce Enrile, ex-officio chairman of the commission.
Asked by reporters later if she would still invoke Section 20 against Justice
Secretary Leila de Lima and Environment Secretary Ramon Paje, two other
secretaries that she invited to her hearing but who also didn't show up,
Santiago said with a laugh, "Let me think." With a report
from Michael Ubac
FROM THE RAPPLER.CPM
Roxas special envoy to China meeting by
Rappler.com Posted on 09/20/2012 2:13 PM | Updated 09/20/2012 3:54 PM
[PHOTO -SPECIAL ENVOY. Mar Roxas will travel to a high-level
meeting in China as presidential special envoy. Photo by
Malacañang Photo Bureau]
(UPDATED) MANILA, Philippines - Interior and Local Government Secretary Mar
Roxas was nominated by President Benigno Aquino III as his special envoy to the
9th China-ASEAN Expo (CAEXPO) which will be held from September 21 to 25 in
Nanning, China.
Presidential spokesman Edwin Lacierda confirmed on Thursday, September 19
that Roxas will represent Aquino at the meeting and hopes he will be able to
meet Chinese Vice President and leader-in-waiting Xi Jinping.
"The President has given his approval to Secretary Mar Roxas to relay to the
Vice President what President Aquino wanted to relay to President Hu Jintao" two
weeks ago in Russia, Lacierda said during a press briefing in Malacañang.
Asked if it would be a step forward, the presidential spokesman said it would
certainly be a discussion on a higher level and should be viewed "in a positive
light."
Previously, Foreign Affairs Secretary Albert del Rosario had explained in a
DFA statement that he recommended Roxas' appointment to Aquino after China had
asked the Philippines to send a "high-level delegation" to the meeting.
The recommendation was "based on the Philippines being the Country of Honor
in the next year's CAEXPO," the statement added.
Lacierda will accompany Roxas to the meeting, which will be attended by
President Xi.
After Aquino and Chinese President Hu Jintao were unable to meet at the last
APEC summit in Vladivostok (Russia), the DFA said it is "making arrangements for
Secretary Roxas and the Philippine delegation to meet with high-level Chinese
officials" but not confirm if he will in fact meet with Xi, slated to replace Hu
in 2013.
Roxas told GMA News that he will travel to China as presidential special
envoy but declined to reveal the content of the message he will deliver to the
Chinese.
Roxas -- whose appointment as DILG Secretary was confirmed by the Commission
on Appointments on Wednesday -- also denied he will be the new Foreign Affairs
Secretary replacing Del Rosario, as Senator Antonio Trillanes suggested on the
same day.
Roxas previously headed the Transportation and Communications Department.
CAEXPO, co-sponsored by China and ASEAN, is an international event held
annually since 2004 with the objective of promoting the China-ASEAN Free Trade
Area, a platform for cooperation in the fields of infrastructure investment,
trade and tourism. - Rappler.com
Chief News Editor: Sol Jose Vanzi
© Copyright, 2012 by PHILIPPINE HEADLINE NEWS ONLINE
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rights reserved
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