Opposition lawmakers urge CA: Reject, not bypass Yasay appointment

Foreign Secretary Perfecto Yasay Jr.    INQUIRER PHOTO/JOAN BONDOC

The Commission on Appointments (CA) should directly reject the nomination of Foreign Secretary Perfecto Yasay Jr. instead of merely bypassing him for lying under oath about his US citizenship, opposition lawmakers said on Tuesday.

“It (Yasay’s appointment) has to be rejected, not just bypassed. One of the papers asked: ‘Is Yasay an American citizen, a Filipino citizen or stateless?’” Albay Rep. Edcel Lagman told a press forum, referring to the Inquirer headline on Feb. 27.

‘Duty’ to reject

“More than that, he’s a liar,” Lagman added.

Caloocan Rep. Edgar Erice agreed with Lagman, saying it was the “duty” of the CA to reject Yasay’s nomination.

Yasay’s confirmation has been put in question following suggestions that he may have lied about his American citizenship.

He admitted in a television interview on Monday that he did hold a US passport but that he returned it.

In another television interview on Tuesday, Yasay maintained that he was a Filipino.

“I am [a Filipino not only legally], I am [a Filipino also] in thought, in word and in deed,” he said.

In the Senate later on Tuesday, he told reporters that he never lied to the CA.

“I have never lied in my testimonies and I will continue and reiterate the same statements that I have made,” he said.

In Malacañang, presidential spokesperson Ernesto Abella said members of the commission were “speaking ahead of time” when they said they might reject Yasay’s nomination because of the controversy.

‘Credible’ statement

“Secretary Yasay has already made a statement and it was logical, credible and open and transparent,” Abella said.

The Inquirer reported last week that, based on documents it had obtained, Yasay became a US citizen in 1986 and that he sought to renounce it in 1993 but failed to reacquire his Philippine citizenship.

He formally renounced his US citizenship two days before he was appointed to the Cabinet in 2016, the documents showed.

In an affidavit he submitted to the CA dated Feb. 23, 1993, Yasay said that while he “was granted United States citizenship” on Nov. 24, 1986, his decision to return to the Philippines within a year made him “ineligible and disqualified” for US citizenship.

Then in a June 28, 2016, affidavit he executed at the US Embassy in Manila, Yasay exercised his right of “renunciation/ relinquishment… in furtherance, reiteration and confirmation” of the 1993 affidavit.

Facing the foreign affairs committee of the commission last month, Yasay said his renunciation was made in reference to the older affidavit admitting his disqualification for American citizenship.

Last week, Isabela Rep. Rodolfo Albano III, the majority floor leader of the CA, told the Inquirer: “If he lied under oath… he would not be confirmed.”

Three strikes

The CA adopted new rules on Tuesday, including a “three-strike” rule under which nominees bypassed three times by the body could no longer be reappointed by the President.

“Once you’re rejected, you can never be reappointed by the President. It’s in the Constitution,” said Senate Majority Leader Vicente Sotto III. —WITH REPORTS FROM LEILA B. SALAVERRIA, CHRISTINE O. AVENDAÑO AND JEANNETTE I. ANDRADE