BY GERARD NAVAL and ASHZEL HACHERO
THE Commission on Appointments (CA) yesterday gave its stamp of approval to the nominations of Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin and Department of Finance (DOF) Secretary Benjamin Diokno.
Senate President Juan Miguel Zubiri, who sits as CA chairman, made the announcement during the hybrid CA plenary hearing, after the confirmation of the two were recommended by the CA Committee on Executive Secretary and Presidential Communications Offices of the Office of the President, and the CA Committee on Finance, respectively.
During the hearing, Senate President Pro Tempore Loren Legarda endorsed the speedy approval of the ad interim appointment of Bersamin.
“With all the problems in the country that the Executive Secretary, known as the Little President, has to handle, having been the Chief Justice of our land with such esteemed vision and character, there is no need to delay, nothing to investigate with Chief Justice Bersamin as Executive Secretary,” said Legarda.
Bersamin served as the 25th Chief Justice of the Philippines from 2018 until his retirement in 2019.
He was appointed last September as replacement for lawyer Victor Rodriguez.
Bersamin’s confirmation was supported by Pangasinan Rep. Ramon Guico, Surigao del Sur Rep. Johnny Pimentel, Sen. Francis Tolentino, and Sen. Imee Marcos, among others.
As for Diokno, he assured the CA that the ballooning debt of the country, which stood at P13.02 trillion as of the end of August, is manageable.
“Actually, our public debt is manageable. Let’s put it that way. This should not be a cause for concern,” said Diokno, adding: “We have to be very careful in our budgeting. We have to make sure that every peso counts. (With) higher revenues, stricter on the expenditure side, I think we can manage our debt.”
Diokno’s confirmation was endorsed by Marcos, saying the former is qualified for the post given his experience and character.
‘’The global economic devastation following the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic today demands the most committed and tested of men, which certainly our Secretary of Finance Diokno is’,” said Marcos.
Diokno headed the Department of Budget and Management twice, from 2016 to 2019 under former President Duterte, and from 1998 to 2001 under former President Estrada.
During his committee confirmation hearing, Bersamin vowed to avoid a repeat of the “sugar fiasco,” in which his predecessor Rodriguez was dragged into.
Bersamin made the assurance after he was asked by Sen. Risa Hontiveros what measures he will impose to avoid a repeat of the miscommunication that led to the controversial issuance of Sugar Order No.4 by dismissed Department of Agriculture (DA) Undersecretary Leocadio Sebastian that allowed the importation of 300, 000 tons of sugar without the go-ahead from the President, who is also the concurrent head of the DA.
As DA secretary, Marcos is also the Sugar Board’s chairperson.
Bersamin told Hontiveros he would ensure proper coordination and complete staff work from government offices to avoid the recurrence of the miscommunication.
“Tingin ko po sa mga nangyari ay talagang miscommunication (What happened was miscommunication) and since we came to this position, we made sure that this will never happen again by requiring complete staff work ordinarily, and complete staff work at that time might have avoided this confusion and miscommunication,” Bersamin said.
“Right now, we do not anymore tolerate a lack of coordination that happened here and imposed on everyone (not) to assume or presume that the President already approved a certain act until and unless me or my senior deputy Executive Secretary have signified the approval,” he added.
Bersamin said such measures are needed to “avoid the unnecessary presumptuous action taken in that fiasco.”
He also told the CA that his office has also instituted a documentation process where respective handlers of each communication are given primary responsibility for ensuring that the communication is given to the proper office.
“Because that is the only way to ensure accountability in the handling of important communications like these. Right now, that is being strictly enforced in our jurisdiction,” Bersamin added.
He also explained that if a matter is something that he or anyone else in his office could act upon without bothering the President with, they immediately act on the matter.
“But if the matter requires presidential approval or presidential information before any movement can be done or action can be taken, we quickly relay (this) to the Office of the President or the President himself, “ he said.
Also during the CA committee hearing, Bersamin said the President is “seriously considering” several persons to head the DA.
“Actually, the President is seriously considering several people to appoint on a permanent basis or regular basis to represent or minister the DA portfolio. But he has not yet signified to us that he is ready to announce his decision,” Bersamin said even as he declined to name those who are being considered.
CHECK AND BALANCE
In the same hearing, Bersamin said his appointment to the post did not violate the “check and balance” role of the three branches of the government in response to Hontiveros’ query considering his previous position as Chief Justice.
“Mam, there is no violation of any checks and balances or any other thing because my personality at the time that I accepted this position was no longer the personality of a judge,” Bersamin said.
“I may have that training and experience, which I will find to be very useful in the discharge of my present position, but I do not see it conflicting with the demands of this present position,” he added.
He said he also did not feel “demoted” with his appointment as executive secretary after serving as the chief justice.
