YASAY, LOPEZ PASS THROUGH NEEDLE’S EYE
Two Cabinet officials endorsed by the Duterte administration faced rough sailing before the Commission on Appointments yesterday.
The commission unanimously rejected the appointment of Foreign Affairs Secretary Perfecto Yasay while proceedings on the appointment of Environment Secretary Regina Lopez was suspended until 9 a.m. today to allow all oppositors to present their arguments.
The commission ordered Yasay to immediately vacate his post as he is no longer competent to perform duties as the head of the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA).
Yasay, the first Cabinet member of the Duterte administration to be rejected by the CA, apologized to the panel for issuing conflicting statements and for not immediately admitting that he used to hold a US passport and was naturalized as a US citizen.
Senator Panfilo Lacson, chair of the Foreign Affairs Committee in the Senate, said he cannot tolerate the official appointment of Yasay after Yasay himself admitted that he secured American citizenship on Nov. 26, 1986, although he has given this up.
Earlier, Senator Francis “Kiko” Pangilinan, advised Yasay to withdraw as foreign secretary in order to save face and spare the Duterte administration from further embarrassment.
Meanwhile, Senator Emmanuel “Manny” Pacquiao, chairman of the environment committee, said over 20 people, mostly congresmen, have filed sworn opposition to Lopez’s confirmation.
“We would want to hear all oppositors to be fair,” Pacquiao said.
Lopez noted that some of her oppositors have interests to protect.
She said Manuel Galvez of Clean Air Advocates, who questioned her
competence, is a supplier of billboards that would be used to announce air quality monitoring results.
Lopez said geosciences professor Carlo Arcilla from the University of the Philippines and Asia Oceania Geosciences Society, who accused her of conflict of interest and criticized her inaccurate definition of open-pit mining, is also a consultant of mining company Marcventures Holdings.