Miriam opposes CA confirmation of DepEd's Luistro

Senator Miriam Defensor-Santiago on Monday formally objected to the nomination of Bro. Armin Luistro as secretary of the Department of Education (DepEd) before the Commission on Appointments (CA). In a letter to CA education committee head Senator Edgardo Angara, Santiago said she is objecting to Luistro's appointment because of "conflicting interests, gross ignorance of the law, and political deafness." "If our committee recommends him favorable to the plenary session, I intend that on Wednesday, I shall invoke CA rules, section 20, which provides for the suspension of consideration of a nomination, on motion of a CA member," said the senator, who is a CA member. The senator explained that Luistro should not be appointed as DepEd chief because he is a member of the Catholic religious. Luistro is "bound" to support the official position of the Catholic church against the controversial Reproductive Health Act, Santiago said. "Either he will obey his church, or betray it. Either way, he is impaled on the horns of a moral dilemma. Out of delicadeza, if only for this reason alone, he should have declined his nomination," she said. She added that Luistro is "full of himself" and has "no room for voices rather than his own." "He wants to be a force in political society, without taking the time to understand the dynamics of politics in our native culture." She said Luistro, former president of De La Salle University, publicly objected to her teaching political science at the said university based on "partisan political grounds." "The nominee's actuations were intended to humiliate and oppress me, as a perceived ally of former President Joseph Estrada. To avoid scandal, I was forced to decline the invitation (to teach there)," she said. Santiago likewise said that Luistro and his "cohorts" allegedly "pilloried" her in the media for refusing to vote in favor of opening the second envelope at the impeachment trial of the deposed President. "I was savaged by the nominee and his gang, despite my explanation during the trial that, as a former RTC judge, I was merely applying the rules of the court," she said. In an interview on Monday, Senate Minority Floor Leader Alan Peter Cayetano, also a CA member, said they owe it to each and every member of the CA to hear out their arguments. He added that Santiago made the right move to file a formal objection to Luistro's appointment. "She is being forthright and honest by putting the arguments there already. I think this is a way of allowing Sec. Luistro to prepare, to answer all of this," he said. Cayetano said that the CA plans to conduct another hearing next Tuesday to hear Santiago's motion. The CA is composed of the Senate president as its head and 12 senators and 12 congressmen as its members. The commission’s duty, as mandated by the Constitution, is to confirm all appointments made by the President of the Philippines, except those of the Ombudsman and Supreme Court Justices. The CA 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 bypassed. - VVP/HS, GMANews.TV