De Lima fails to get CA confirmation

MANILA, Philippines—Justice Secretary Leila de Lima on Wednesday failed to get the confirmation of the powerful Commission on Appointments amid oppositions and questions raised against her.

The CA’s committee on justice and judicial and bar council, instead, suspended the hearing and will resume next week.

It was De Lima’s first appearance before the CA and she was met with strong opposition from Sandra Cam, president of the Whistleblowers Association of the Philippines.

Cam broke into tears at one point while narrating her opposition against the nominee.

Senator Jose “Jinggoy” Estrada also peppered De Lima with questions and even accused her of receIving an additional P1 million allowance a month from the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp (Pagcor) when she was still head of the Commission on Human Rights.

De Lima denied the allegation, saying the amount, not P1 million but only 500,000 as “confidential/intelligence) fund, sometimes given every quarter, and not every month as alleged by Estrada.

Originally posted at 12:24 pm | June 4, 2014

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