DENR chief fails to get CA nod due to time constraints

A Commission on Appointments (CA) panel on Wednesday failed to recommend Ramon Paje as secretary of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) after it ran out time to hear out all of the secretary's oppositors. Sen. Francis Escudero, who presided over Wednesday's CA environment committee hearing, clarified that they did not defer recommending Paje's for confirmation and only suspended its hearing for another time. "Mostly naman nagsasabi they won't exactly oppose (Paje's confirmation) but that they have questions... they have concerns that the department has to address," he told reporters after the hearing. Escudero explained that only one of the four oppositors to Paje's appointment was able to present his case before the CA panel. "One or two more hearings I think that would be enough," he said. "We owe it to the oppositors to hear them out." The CA was also supposed to conduct a hearing on the appointment of Commission on Elections (Comelec) Chairman Sixto Brillantes on Tuesday but it was cancelled. - Kimberly Jane Tan/KBK, GMA News