Robredo: Why not make CA voting process public?

FINAL APPEARANCE Judy Taguiwalo faces members of the Commission on Appointments for the third and final hearing on her confirmation as social welfare secretary. —LYN RILLON

The decisions of the Commission on Appointments (CA) should be made transparent and revealed to the public, Vice President Leni Robredo said on Thursday.

The Vice President’s remarks came amid growing public outcry over the body’s rejection of Judy Taguiwalo’s appointment as secretary of the Department of Social Welfare and Development.

“Mas gugustuhin sana natin na mas transparent din iyong process, mas alam natin kung bakit na-reject (It’s better to have a transparent process so we would know why she was rejected),” she was quoted as saying at the “Freedom Cycle” press conference in Naga City.

The CA reached on Wednesday a decision to reject Taguiwalo’s appointment in an executive session after a two-hour confirmation hearing. The reasons for her rejection, however, were not disclosed at the plenary.

Robredo believed that the people’s frustration on the decision stemmed from the body’s non-transparent manner of voting.

“Tingin ko kasi, iyong frustration kasi nanggagaling doon… Iyong alam mo na iyong pinaglalaban nitong taong ito, iyon din iyong pinaglalaban mo, and yet hindi siya pumasa sa proseso (I think the frustration comes from that. When you know you both share the same ideals but she failed to hurdle the process),” she said.

The Vice President said that it is important for the people to express their outrage to call out officials and prevent them from abusing the mandate given to them.

“Mahalaga din na kapag may ganitong nangyayari, nag-e-express tayo ng outrage, para iyong mga tao naman o opisina na binigyan ng mandate, parang nako-call out iyong attention nila, na hindi naaabuso iyong mandatong ibinigay sa kanila (It is also important for the people to express their outrage to call out their officials and prevent them from abusing the mandate given to them),” she said.

However, she reminded the public that the confirmation process is a political process, which provides a check-and-balance mechanism to the President’s power to appoint.

Taguiwalo is the third member of the Duterte Cabinet to be rejected by the CA. The same body had rejected the appointments of then Foreign Secretary Perfecto Yasay Jr., and Environment Secretary Regina “Gina” Lopez.

The new CA rules require the body to decide on the fate of a Cabinet member’s appointment if he or she was bypassed three times.