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Appointments body defers confirmation of Tourism chief


Tourism Secretary Alberto Lim on Wednesday became the third Cabinet secretary whose confirmation was deferred by the powerful Commission on Appointments (CA). The CA deferred hearing Lim's nomination to December 14 after Travel Cooperative of the Philippines chairman Robert Lim Joseph expressed his formal opposition to the DOT chief's nomination during Wednesday's CA hearing. Joseph said Lim was an "incompetent" official for coming out with the controversial "Pilipinas Kay Ganda" (Philippines So Beautiful) campaign despite the objections from the people around him. "Dito po ako tumututol na napakatigas nitong ulo ng secretary. Sinabi na sa kanya hindi lilipad yan. (I am objecting to the fact that the secretary is so hard-headed. He was already told that the campaign won't take off)," he said during the CA hearing. Lim, however, said that Joseph was entitled to his opinion. "He said it's not personal but the words he used [were] very personal [but] I am a public servant so I have to face these criticisms," he said in an interview with reporters. Tourism Undersecretary Vicente "Enteng" Romano had earlier resigned, saying he was responsible for the much-maligned slogan. Based on its website, the Travel Cooperative of the Philippines claims to be the first travel cooperative in the world that was approved by the International Air Transport Association as an accredited agent. It supposedly has the largest nationwide network of travel sales intermediaries that is owned by 149 proprietors and executives of independent travel and tour agencies operating in major cities in the Philippines. Joseph, meanwhile, is also chairman of family-owned corporations like the Philippine Wine Merchants Inc., Food and Beverage Inc., and Ralph's Wines and Spirits. He is also the Honorary Consul of the Republic of Latvia to the Philippines. Open skies Aside from the tourism campaign, Joseph also accused Lim of prioritizing foreign interests for supposedly advocating an "unlimited" open skies policy. Lim explained, however, that he is not advocating for a total open skies policy but for a "reciprocal" open skies policy. He said the country can open its secondary airports to other carriers to boost competition among the airlines and in the long term lower air fare and improve services. "Alam mo itong open skies nung nangyari sa ibang bansa, naging mas matino ang airlines (When the open skies policy was implemented in other countries, the airlines there gave better service)," he said. Lim likewise assured the public that a reciprocal open skies policy will not "be detrimental to the market of domestic carriers. "If you are a well-managed company, they can compete," he said. The CA had also earlier deferred the confirmation of Education Sec. Bro. Armin Luistro and Energy Sec. Jose Rene Almendras. The CA has deferred the hearing on the nomination of both Almendras and Luistro to December 14. The CA will conduct its last hearing for the year on December 15, when it will hear the nomination of Agriculture Sec. Proceso Alcala. 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 1987 Constitution is to confirm appointments made by the President of the Philippines: the heads of the executive departments, ambassadors, other public ministers and consuls, or officers of the Amed Forces from the rank of colonel or naval captain, 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. — RSJ/KBK, GMANews.TV

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