CA notches up performance with 256 confirmation in record time
Villar says feat marks a new era in Appointments body

Making its mark in Congress colorful history, the Commission on Appointments under the leadership of Senate President Manny Villar has confirmed in record fashion the nomination of 256 senior government officials, who had been nominated in various capabilities by President Arroyo.

Senate President Villar , who also sits as CA chairman, said this record performance sends a strong signal to the public that the Appointments body is committed to discharging its constitutional mandate, which is to ensure the efficient and harmonious functioning of the bureaucracy.

Since taking over the helm of the CA, Villar steered the body into approving the appointments of 256 presidential appointees, who occupy crucial positions in the Presidents Official Family.

Villar said the number of appointees scrutinized and confirmed by the CA over a four-month period from July to November 2006 is a feat that reflects the legislatures commitment to ensuring that only the best and brightest, competent and honest individuals make it high positions in the national bureaucracy.

The CA under the Villars stewardship conducted eight committee hearings and six plenary sessions.

The ad interim appointment of former Tarlac Representative Jesli Lapus as Secretary of the Department of Eduacation (DoE) topped the list of appointments. The appointment buddy also confirmed the appointment of Arturo Brion as Secretary of the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE).

A stalwart of the Nationalist Peoples Coalition, Lapus served as Tarlac Representative for three consecutive terms. He chaired the House Ways and Means panel before his appointment as Education Secretary. He also served as Landbank President during Ramos administration.

Brion, a topnotcher in the 1974 Bar exams and a former Appellate court justice, breezed through the CA after more than an hour of spirited deliberations by the Committee on Labor headed by Rep. Abdullah Dimaporo (Lakas, Lanao Del Norte)

A total of 115 senior officers of the Armend Forces of the Philippines (AFP) le by Chief of Staff Hermogenes Esperon Jr. also hurdled the CAs tough confirmation process.

Esperon, whose appointments was bypassed four times since his first promotion to the rank of lieutenant general on Sept. 7, 2005, and subsequently as general on July 21,2006, finally got the CAs nod for both promotions.

Also confirmed were the ad interim appointments of Nicodemo T. Ferrer as commissioner of the Commission on Elections (COMELEC), and of Amado L. Dimayuga as member of the Judicial and Bar Council (JBC), representing the academe.

Ferrer, a former Sandiganbayan justice, graduated from the University of the Philippines College of Law and earned degrees in Economics from Marquette University in Wisconsin and University of Hawaii. As Elections Commissioner, Ferrer pledged to give his best in restoring and improving the poll bodys public image, which had been recently tarnished by scandals such as the Hello Garci.

Dimayuga, on the other hand, is a Doctor of Civil Laws, having graduated from the Universidad Central de Madrid in Spain. He finished law magna cum laude at the University of Santo Tomas, where he also served as professor of law for more than five decades.

Also confirmed were five envoys and 26 senior officials of the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA).

Willy C. Gaa, Ambassador to the United States, headed the list of DFA officials given nod by the CA. He replaced Ambassasor Alberto del Rosario.

The CA bypassed the appointments of least 9 cabinet secretaries namely Rolando Andaya Jr. of Budget and Management; Esperanza Cabral, Social Welfare and Development; Franscisco Duque, Health; Hermogenes Ebdanes Jr., Public Works and Highways; Peter Favilla, Trade and Industry; Raphael Lotilla, Energy; Romulo Neri, National Economic Development Authority; Rolando Puno, Interior and Local Government; Angelo Reyes, Environment and Natural Resources; and Margarito Teves of Finance.