CA OKs Roxas’ appointment

MANILA, Philippines — Transportation Secretary Manuel “Mar” Roxas II was unanimously confirmed by the powerful Commission on Appointments in the plenary on Wednesday.

No less than his erstwhile opponent in the 2010 vice presidential race, Senator Loren Legarda, seconded the motion when Cebu Representative Eduardo Gullas moved to endorsed his nomination during the confirmation hearing of the Commission’s committee on transportation and communication on Wednesday.

No member of the committee objected to Gullas’ motion.

At the start of the hearing, Senator Joker Arroyo suggested that Roxas should be confirmed by acclamation.

“We have a very unusual situation where a nominne has been a member of the Commission on Appointments. He has been  a congressman, he was a member of the House, he was even the Majority Leader and a member of the Senate,” Arroyo said.

“We don’t have to find out who he is because we all know him. Everybody knows him. I don’t know whether it’s correct procedure to recommend his confirmation by acclamation,” he further said.

Senate President Juan Ponce-Enrile, who presided over the hearing, heaped praises for Roxas.

Enrile commended Roxas for his “humility” when he gave up his presidential ambition in 2010 to support President Benigno Aquino III.