Cordoba, Ople get CA nod with flying colors
CA defers appointment of Energy Sec. Lotilla
THE Commission on Appointments (CA) on Tuesday, November 29 confirmed the ad interim appointments of two cabinet officials of the Marcos administration, Commission on Audit, Atty. Gamaliel Cordoba as Chairman of the CA and Department of Migrant Workers chief Maria Susana toots Ople.
Cordoba who was able to get the nod of the CA will sit as chairman of the Commission on Audit until February 2, 2029.
Senator Francis Tolentino who expressed his full support for the confirmation of Cordoba said “COA report should really be seen as a tool for good governance and not just a means or a weapon for harassment. It can be done, it should be done. That positive COA audit report should be coming out from your office as a tool for development.”
Sec. Ople, daughter of the late senator Blas Ople passed the CA with flying colors as she was endorsed by majority of the CA members for plenary confirmation the ad interim of Ople as Secretary of the Department of Migrant Workers.
Blas Ople who was a labor secretary in the 70s and early 80s has been hailed as the woman tailor-fitted for the job.
“Mr. Chairman, your Honors, when my father–the late and former DFA Sec. Senate President Ka Blas Ople-died on December 14, 2013, I pledged to dedicate my life to helping our migrant workers, It was and continues to be my way of honoring him, of keeping him close to me and remembering the legacy he worked hard for,” Sec. Ople said.
The bicameral body later in the afternoon approved the appointment of both Ople and Cordoba.
Meanwhile, another Marcos appointee, Department of Energy, Sec. Raphael Perpetuo Lotilla’s ad interim appointment to the post fails to get the nod of the CA Committee on Energy due to a lack of material time.
More than 10 lawmakers were scheduled to propound questions to Lotilla but only three were able to deliberate on his appointment. Lotilla was the second appointee of President Marcos jr., whose appointment was suspended by the body. The first was Erwin Tulfo as secretary of the Department of Social Welfare and Development who was questioned by the body on his citizenship and his convictions.
