MANILA, Philippines?The congressional Commission on Appointments (CA) has deferred the confirmation of Tourism Secretary Alberto Lim after private tourism groups used the Senate confirmation hearings as a battleground to block fresh moves to adopt an ?open skies? policy.

Robert Lim Joseph, chair of the Travel Cooperative of the Philippines, called Lim an ?idiot,? a ?liar,? and an ?incompetent? for coming up with the widely derided ?Pilipinas Kay Ganda? slogan, for allegedly washing his hands of the fiasco, and for proposing to liberalize the country?s airline industry to the detriment of local carriers.

Not personal, but...

Lim was sitting right behind Joseph as the latter was excoriating him before the 24-member commission.

In an interview following the hearing, Lim said Joseph was entitled to his own opinion.

?He said it?s not personal but the words he used were very personal. I am a public servant so I have to face these criticisms,? he said.

Joseph said Lim?s championing of open skies betrayed his ?deep-seated bias? for foreign carriers.

He said Lim was a co-founder and member of the Freedom to Fly Coalition (FFC) which he claimed was ?unmasked as a mere front? of the US group AGILE (Accelerating Growth, Investment and Liberalization with Equity) in the Senate in 2003.

?Lim cannot function properly as a secretary of tourism because he has represented, and continues to represent, foreign interests to the detriment of our national interest,? he said.

Joseph also castigated Lim for supposedly downplaying the effects of the Aug. 23, 2010 hostage-taking tragedy when he told the press the incident ?doesn?t have that much of an effect because Hong Kong is a small market.?

Other oppositors

?Lim misses the obvious fact that Hong Kong and China have tremendous potential as a source of tourists given their close geography, sheer population and spending power,? he said.

Besides Joseph, those opposing Lim?s appointment were the Cebu Interline Operators, Chamber of Real Estate Builders Association, Davao Association of Tour Operators, Davao Tourism Association, Hotel, Resort and Restaurant Association of Cebu, among others.

Meanwhile, though Education Secretary Armin Luistro has patched things up with Sen. Miriam Defensor-Santiago, who earlier threatened to block his confirmation, Luistro Wednesday encountered some fresh opposition to his appointment.

This time the objection came from two complainants who took Luistro to task for ?numerous violations? of Department of Education orders in Caloocan City.

Luistro promised to look into the complaints of a certain Rolando Ocampo and Victorino Mendoza, who submitted a joint affidavit to the CA.

?This is nothing personal,? Ocampo told Luistro at the end of the hearing.

The commission decided to defer decision on Luistro?s nomination despite a letter from Santiago withdrawing her opposition.

?The nominee and I have engaged in a fruitful dialogue, and we have cordially agreed to disagree,? Santiago said in a letter to Sen. Edgardo Angara, education committee chair and a CA member.