TWO panels of the congressional Commission on Appointments (CA) are scheduled to conduct separate confirmation hearings on Tuesday, September 10, for a new member of the Judicial and Bar Council (JBC) and three ambassadors.
Surigao del Sur Rep. Johnny Pimentel said the CA’s committee on foreign affairs chaired by Sen. Jinggoy Estrada will pore over President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s nominations of Daniel Espiritu as ambassador to Ireland; Mardomel Celo Melicor as ambassador to Qatar; and Mary Anne Padua as ambassador to Timor-Liste.
“Besides the three ambassadors, we also have 25 newly promoted career diplomats at the Department of Foreign Affairs lined up for their confirmation hearings,” Pimentel, the CA’s assistant minority leader, said in a statement on Sunday.
The new posting or place of assignment of an ambassador and the rank promotion of senior foreign service officers require the consent of the CA.
Pimentel said the CA’s committee on justice chaired by SAGIP party-list Rep. Rodante Marcoleta will also weigh up the appointment of law practitioner Jose Mejia as JBC member representing the private sector.
The seven-member JBC screens and recommends appointees to the judiciary.
The President appoints members of the Supreme Court and the judges of lower courts from a list of at least three nominees prepared by the JBC for every vacancy.
The JBC is composed of the Supreme Court Chief Justice as ex officio chairperson, with the Secretary of Justice and a member of Congress as ex officio members, plus four regular members appointed by the President: an Integrated Bar of the Philippines representative, a law professor, a retired Supreme Court member, and a private sector representative.
The Constitution empowers the 25-member CA to scrutinize the competence, fitness and integrity of key presidential appointees and to approve or reject them.
The CA is composed of 12 members each from the House of Representatives and the Senate, with the Senate President as ex officio presiding officer.
CA confirmation hearings are a crucial check on Malacañang’s power to appoint key officials.
