Aquino risking impeachment in appointing acting secretaries, Enrile says

President Benigno Aquino III is risking impeachment if he will continue to appoint Cabinet officials on acting capacity, Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile warned on Wednesday. “If the President abuses his prerogative, the only recourse of Congress is to file an impeachment proceeding against the President," he told reporters in an interview. Enrile noted that the Commission on Appointments (CA), which he heads, does not have jurisdiction over acting secretaries. He also said they cannot compel Aquino to transmit to them the appointments of acting secretaries especially if he knows that the appointees won’t pass the scrutiny of the powerful commission. Article XI, Section 2 of the Philippine Constitution says that among the impeachable offenses are culpable violation of the Constitution, treason, bribery, graft and corruption, and other high crimes or betrayal of public trust. The Constitution, however, left the definition of “other high crimes or betrayal of public trust" in the hands of Congress. Three Cabinet officials — Jesse Robredo (Department of Interior and Local Government), Ramon Paje (Environment and Natural Resources), and Rosalinda Baldoz (Labor and Employment) — have been named acting secretaries whose names will not be included on the list that will be submitted to CA for confirmation. Enrile, who supported former President Joseph Estrada in the May 10 elections, warned Aquino against abusing his appointing powers. “It becomes a political issue against him. His responsibility is to the people and to us," he said. Senate Minority Floor Leader Alan Peter Cayetano, for his part, asked the CA committee on rules to study the legality of an acting secretary position. He said that acting secretaries are “in a sense" already secretaries because they also serve at the pleasure of the President without the security of tenure. He said this practice should be avoided because unlike appointed secretaries, acting secretaries are safe from CA scrutiny. “This can lead to abuse at na pwedeng paikutan ang CA (and a way to skirt the CA)," he said. Cayetano added that instead of an acting secretary, the President could appoint an officer-in-charge from one of the department’s undersecretaries or assistant secretaries. The CA met for the first time on Wednesday to elect members into its committees. Enrile said they will start their hearings once the documentation of nominees and appointees have been completed. The CA is composed of the Senate president as its head and 12 senators and 12 congressmen as its members. It is in charge of confirming all appointments made by the President except those of the Ombudsman and Supreme Court Justices. The commission discusses and deliberates on nominations at the standing committee level and at the plenary session. Nominations or appointments may end up being confirmed, rejected or by-passed. - KBK, GMANews.TV