Source: Philippine Star
MANILA, Philippines - Malacañang said there was “nothing irregular” with its recent appointments and dismissals because they were done in accordance with the Constitution and were not covered by the ban on hiring of officials 60 days before the May 10 elections.
“The constitutional ban only applies to the act of the President which is to appoint, and does not extend to other acts which are part of the overall appointment process,” Justice Secretary Alberto Agra said. Such “other acts” include induction and turnover ceremonies, he said. The ban started on March 10.
The Palace said all the appointments were made before March 10, “except for a few” covered by exemptions “provided by the Constitution itself.”
Agra said one exemption is temporary appointment to an executive position, which if left vacant for long “will prejudice public service or endanger public safety.”
Thus, he said, Jose Ibazeta was named to the Department of Energy as officer-in-charge following the resignation of Angelo Reyes, who is a nominee of a party-list group.
“Having met the condition of temporariness, it cannot be denied that the continued vacancy will prejudice public service on account of the Mindanao power crisis and the worsening El Niño phenomenon,” Agra said.
“Having no Cabinet secretary will undermine governance,” he said.
“Please bear in mind that the appointing authority of the President in these cases of recent presidential appointments is absolute, as opposed to subjecting the same to assent or confirmation of another body,” said Agra, also a professor of administrative law.
“It is long settled in the law of public officers that where the power of appointment is absolute, and the appointee has been determined upon, no further consent or approval is necessary, and the formal evidence of the appointment, the commission, may issue at once,” he said.
“Thus the transmission of appointment papers, the acceptance of the appointment, and the administration of oaths are clearly subsequent-appointment processes and do not in any way affect the appointing authority of the President,” he added.
Agra also stressed that the prohibition on “midnight appointments” does not cover designations, details, transfers, and reassignments because these acts presume previous or earlier appointments.
Judiciary’s exemption
Agra also said a recent Supreme Court ruling removed the judiciary from the ban on appointments.
“The Supreme Court on March 17, 2010, confirmed that members of the judiciary can be appointed by the President even if made within the period prohibited by the Constitution,” he said.
“The Supreme Court reasoned, among others, that the establishment of the Judicial and Bar Council and its subjecting the nomination and screening of candidates for judicial positions to the unhurried and deliberate prior process of the JBC ensured that there would no longer be midnight appointments for the judiciary,” he said.
Agra said the questions being raised by some groups over the appointments were “malicious talks” and “bereft of legal basis.”
Presidential spokesman Ricardo Saludo, for his part, said Mrs. Arroyo had to rush the appointments because there was a deadline to beat.
“There had been appointments that should have been done over a period of several weeks but had to be done by March 9 or 10 because of the deadline,” Saludo said in Filipino.
“We hope that the people would understand why these appointments came at the same time. There was a deadline and that is why these were all done at once,” he added.
“While the Palace gave due consideration to each posting on legal and governance grounds, prior notice was sometimes hard to do, given the bunching. But now the new officials must perform. That’s the ultimate quality test for their appointments,” Saludo said.
House defenders
Two of President Arroyo’s most trusted allies in the House of Representatives have come to her defense.
House Deputy Speaker for Women Amelita Villarosa and Quezon Rep. Danilo Suarez, chairman of the House committee on oversight, said Mrs. Arroyo made the appointments because she wanted to work only with trusted and competent people in her remaining days in office.
“The appointments replaced the members of the Cabinet who filed their certificates of candidacy while the dismissals are part of government operations,” Villarosa said.
She called the controversy over the appointments “a case of too much ado about nothing.”
“I think it is more of a comfort level considering that she has limited time in office and she wants to make sure her program will be amply followed without further argument and debate,” Suarez said.
“I don’t think the President will be that stupid or harebrained to commit certain mistakes. I believe everything is within the law,” he said.
“She (Arroyo) won’t do anything unlawful or illegal that will put her into a problem,” Suarez added.
“Maybe what she wants to avoid is a situation wherein she wants to do certain projects and the Cabinet member who is not really her man objects,” he said.
“So it’s more of putting people who can help her finish the work that needs to be done within the period of her last remaining days in office,” he said.
Other administration congressmen, meanwhile, scored opposition vice presidential candidate Jejomar Binay for his pronouncement that even if the President doesn’t get the speakership, she can still “undermine” the next president even with only 90 House allies.
“Binay will do a balancing act on a tight rope or even place his head inside a lion’s mouth just to gain the support of the people,” Rep. Pedro Romualdo of Camiguin said.
“The public should watch for more of Binay’s antics in the coming days,” he said.
Rep. Jose Aquino II of Agusan del Norte called Binay’s claim “purely hypothetical and a product of his fertile imagination.”
“The problem with the opposition is that they interpret the situation the way they see it and not the way it is,” Aquino, a Lakas-Kampi-CMD spokesman, said.
“May we ask Binay what more can we expect from his crystal ball?” he added.
More appointments
As debates rage over Mrs. Arroyo’s recent appointments, two professors of the Angeles University Foundation School of Law have been named new justices of the Court of Appeals.
University officials bared the new appointments last Friday but did not say when Mrs. Arroyo signed them.
Named new CA justices were Eduardo Peralta Jr. and Ramon Hernando.
“Prior to their appointments, Justice Peralta was executive judge at the Manila Regional Trial Court Branch 18 while Justice Hernando was presiding judge at the Quezon City Regional Trial Court Branch 93,” the university said in a statement.
Another faculty member, Dr. Vilma Lacanlale-Tacbad of the College of Education, has been named commissioner of the Commission on the Filipino Language representing the Pampango language.
Demoralization
Meanwhile, Sen. Edgardo Angara said the mass dismissals that came with the “midnight appointments” were “causing demoralization within the bureaucracy on the eve of the transition to a new administration.”
“I recognize the prerogative of the President to appoint up to the last day allowed her by law. But we should question the wisdom of taking out good, performing career executives because it is wreaking havoc and demoralizing the bureaucracy,” Angara said.
Among the top executives replaced were National Museum director
Cora Alvina and Bureau of Animal Industry director Dave Catbagan.
Republic Act 8492 or the National Museum Charter stipulates that the institution’s board of trustees appoints the director.
“There are many others, but these are two glaring examples of how to demoralize the bureaucracy. Both Director Alvina and Director Catbagan are internationally recognized experts in their respective fields, long-time career administrators, and are well-respected by their constituencies,” he said.
Alvina is an esteemed anthropologist and past president of the Metropolitan Museum of Manila. She currently chairs the executive committee of the Asia-Europe Museum Network under the Asia Europe Foundation.
Meanwhile, it was under Catbagan’s watch that the country’s livestock was kept free of foot and mouth disease and bird flu, allowing the Philippines to export poultry meat to Asian markets. Catbagan is a licensed veterinarian.
“It is possible that President Arroyo does not even know the background of their replacements,” Angara said.
“Their appointments could have been lobbied and sponsored by backers. They are doing the President a great disservice,” he said.
One of those unceremoniously removed was Philippine Ambassador to Germany Delia Domingo-Albert, who learned of her fate on the day she was given the Most Outstanding Filipino Woman in Global Diplomacy award by Mrs. Arroyo at Malacañang last week.
She was replaced by 87-year-old taipan Alfonso Yuchengco. - With Aurea Calica, Delon Porcalla, Christina Mendez, Manny Galvez and Ding Cervantes
Posts
