Pending appointments to Cabinet in doubt

Senate Majority Leader Vicente “Tito” Sotto III. (File photo by LYN RILLON / Philippine Daily Inquirer)

Senate Majority Leader Vicente Sotto III questioned the status of four Cabinet secretaries after lawyers realized that special sessions of Congress affected interim appointments.

Sotto raised a parliamentary inquiry on the status of Social Welfare Secretary Judy Taguiwalo, Agrarian Reform Secretary Rafael Mariano, Health Secretary Paulyn Ubial and Environment Secretary Roy Cimatu, who all hold office ad interim.

The four secretaries failed to secure the approval of the Commission on Appointments (CA) during Congress’ first regular session so they were reappointed ad interim by the President after Congress adjourned.

But Congress was called to a special session on July 22 over the Duterte administration’s request to extend martial law in Mindanao until the end of the year.

Since the President cannot make ad interim appointments while Congress is in session, the appointments of the four secretaries should be deemed bypassed when the special session adjourned on July 22, Sotto said.

If the four secretaries are deemed bypassed, Sotto said, they are only holding office in acting capacities and cannot exercise the full powers of their office.

“They cannot sign documents,” the senator said, adding there were also implications on whether they could still be reappointed.

Under CA rules, Sotto said the CA would have to vote for or against a Cabinet member’s confirmation if he or she had been bypassed three times.

“Therefore, if they are deemed bypassed last Saturday, it would be [the second] strikes for [Taguiwalo, Mariano and Ubial] and the first strike for [Cimatu],” Sotto said.