CA hearing postponement disappoints Taguiwalo

Social welfare Secretary Judy Taguiwalo. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO /Grig C. Montegrande

Senate President Aquilino Pimentel III and Senate Minority Leader Franklin Drilon said on Wednesday that the Commission on Appointments (CA) had to postpone the second confirmation hearing of Social Welfare Secretary Judy Taguiwalo for lack of time.

Taguiwalo was disappointed and took to social media to let the lawmakers know how she felt about the postponement of her confirmation hearing.

“This is a form of torture that I am being subjected to by the CA and its members,” she tweeted, alluding to her suffering in detention under dictator Ferdinand Marcos.

“I am very willing to submit to their questioning and answer all of them. It is not clear as to why the CA should continue to delay this process of confirmation or nonconfirmation if such is their wish. What is clear is that all this has the effect of torture on me,” she said in a post on Facebook.

Ubial nomination

Drilon said the confirmation hearing for the nomination of Health Secretary Paulyn Ubial “took longer than expected.”

Taguiwalo’s confirmation hearing was set for 11 a.m. on  Wednesday, while Ubial’s hearing was an hour earlier.

But the CA health committee  managed to hear only the presentation of Kabayan Rep. Harry Roque, one of three people who had filed opposition to Ubial’s nomination.

“Well, that’s the reality out here. We can’t control the presentation of the [opponent] … . So it’s just we ran out of time. I was not aware of any and I did not feel any deliberate effort to delay her hearing. It’s just we ran out of time,” Drilon told reporters.

“These things happen that we run out of time once in a while,” Pimentel said.

Don’t pressure us

Taguiwalo’s complaint did not sit well with Sen. Panfilo Lacson, who said he might reconsider his earlier declaration of support for the social welfare secretary.

“If that is the attitude of a nominee or appointee while I already manifested my support, I might change my mind,” Lacson said.

“I don’t like most of all that I’m being pressured either way. She is looking for votes so she should behave and not act as if she was threatening or intimidating us. That should not be the case,” he said.