CA OKs appointment of budget chief Abad

(Updated 3:12 p.m.) The Commission on Appointments (CA) on Wednesday approved the nomination of Florencio "Butch" Abad as secretary of the Department of Budget (DBM). Abad's confirmation was approved after he was recommended by the CA committee on budget and management earlier in the day. CA budget committee chairman Sen. Franklin Drilon, who sponsored Abad's appointment, said that the secretary adheres to the highest levels of professionalism and integrity. "[He is] a leader and an advocate of civil society. [He is known as] hardworking [and] firm in his conviction [and] staunch nationalism," he said during Wednesday's CA plenary session. Senators Ralph Recto and Joker Arroyo supported Abad's nomination. "He is a poster boy of the Liberal Party," joked Arroyo. Abad, for his part, said he was grateful to the Commission. "They recognize both my experience as well as my expertise in this field..that assured them I'm fit to be the secretary of budget and management," he told reporters. Previous posts Abad was a four-term congressman of Batanes and briefly held the Department of Agrarian Reform portfolio during Mrs. Aquino's administration. He was education secretary when he resigned from the Arroyo administration along with nine other Cabinet officials in 2005 over allegations that then President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo cheated in the 2004 elections, and has since become one of Mrs. Arroyo's staunchest critics. He was later named a member of the team that oversaw the transition between the Arroyo government and the Aquino administration along with his daughter Julia, who is now the presidential management head. Abad graduated from the Ateneo de Manila School of Law and passed the bar exam, and later took up masters in public administration at the John F. Kennedy School of Government of Harvard University. Other Cabinet executives The CA had earlier confirmed the appointments of Executive Secretary Paquito Ochoa, Trade Sec. Gregory Domingo, Energy Sec. Jose Rene Almendras, Education Sec. Armin Luistro, Tourism Sec. Alberto Lim, Agriculture Sec. Proceso Alcala, and Public Works Sec. Rogelio Singson. On the other hand, the confirmation of Defense Sec. Voltaire Gazmin, Health Sec. Enrique Ona, and Agrarian Sec. Virgilio delos Reyes were deferred pending questions regarding their appointment. 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. Ambassadors The CA on Wednesday also approved the appointments of four Philippine ambassadors: Evelyn Austria-Garcia (Czech Republic), Nestor Ochoa (Brunei Darussalam), Bienvenido Tejano (Papua New Guinea), and Jose Cuisia (United States of America). On the other hand, CA foreign affairs committee chairman Senator Miriam Defensor-Santiago said that Francisco Benedicto, who was supposed to assume the post of ambassador to China, begged off from his appointment for health reasons. The appointments of foreign affairs officials Reynaldo Catapang (Chief of Mission, Class I), Adelio Angelito Cruz (Career Minister), and Raul Dado (Foreign Service Officer, Class I) were also approved. - VVP/KBK, GMA News