Press Release
November 28, 2007

Press statement of Senator M.A. Madrigal on the cancellation of the caucus and plenary session of the Commission on Appointments

As Minority Leader of the Commission on Appointments, I strongly denounce the malicious cancellation of the caucus and plenary session of the Commission on Appointments today due to "unknown and unjustifiable reasons" and call for the immediate resignation of the CA Secretary - Ma. Gemma Aspiras for unethical conduct in conspiring with an appointee whose promotion was unanimously rejected by the Commission.

On 21 November 2007, our office received a Notice of Caucus and Plenary Session dated 20 November 2007 signed by Ma. Gemma D. Aspiras as CA Secretary. On 27 November 2007, our office received at 6:05 pm the Notice of Cancellation of Caucus and Plenary Session of the Commission on Appointments of even date again signed by Ma. Gemma D. Aspiras as CA Secretary. No reason was cited for this "abrupt" action.

The cancellation happened after the Commission on Appointments' Committee on National Defense rejected by historic unanimous vote the promotion of Colonel Nestor R. Sadiarin and the deferment of two (2) other military officers.

I challenge the Secretary of the CA and her immediate head - the President of the CA - Senate President Manny Villar to answer the following:

  • Was the cancellation agreed to by the CA Secretary after she met with Colonel Sadiarin in the Senate Lounge in the afternoon of 27 November 2007, after the Committee on Defense historic vote?

  • Was it purposely and maliciously cancelled after Colonel Sadiarin asked the CA Secretary "what are our options" and "ano pa ang pwedeng gawing paraan?"

  • Was it purposely and maliciously cancelled to allow Colonel Sadiarin the opportunity thru sipag at tiyaga to lobby with the other members of the CA and garner enough votes to over turn the decision?

  • Why was there no consultation of the cancellation with the minority members?

The meeting between Ms. Aspiras and Colonel Sadiarin is highly unethical. There is no justifiable reason for a CA Secretary to collude with an appointee to overturn a verdict which has been decided by the Committee. No matter what the reasons are of the CA Secretary and I presume with the direct knowledge of the CA President himself, the facts speak for themselves.

Should the Senate President claim to have no knowledge of her secret meeting, she should be disciplined. The CA after the historic decision of the members of the Committee on National Defense is being compromised by merchants and peddlers who consider it their trading floor.

The CA is an independent constitutional body. It is not an extension of the Senate or the House of the Representatives. It is not a market place for deals and backroom lobbying.

The padrino system has to stop. Tigilan na ang bata-bata at paunawa system! Who is this Colonel Sadiarin that he seems to be able to order around the CA Secretary and influence his padrino and so-called mistah, the Senate President himself to suspend indefinitely the caucus of the Commission on Appointments ? Do they hope to muster through sipag at tiyaga the votes to reverse a unanimous decision of the Commission? The fact that they cancelled the caucus indefinitely proves that they do not have the numbers. I implore the entire membership of the Commission to respect the unanimous vote to reject the appointment of Colonel Sadiarin and stand by their vote regardless of the pressure.

Panahon na upang manindigan ang CA at labanan ang mga trapo!

News Latest News Feed