The twists and turns of the tongue cannot the truth make. Nowhere was this more true than in the case of Foreign Secretary-designate Perfecto Rivas Yasay Jr. who was unanimously rejected by the Commission on Appointments last Wednesday.
Given a chance to explain his questionable citizenship issue, Yasay failed to convince the bicameral CA that he was not an American citizen. By his own words, Yasay said he renounced his US citizenship before an American consul at the US embassy in Manila in June 2016 after Duterte appointed him foreign secretary. Yasay tried to fudge his possession of a US passport, claiming he did not formally assume his American citizenship. He said he did not have any intention of living in the US even after he was granted citizenship. This, after he took an oath of allegiance to his new adopted country?
As a lawyer who practiced both in the US and the Philippines, Yasay should know that once issued a passport by the US, one is presumed to be an American citizen. After renouncing his US citizenship, Yasay also did not take any step toward reacquiring his Philippine citizenship which makes him ineligible to assume the post of Secretary of Foreign Affairs. He is at the point in his muddled life and confused state—a stateless person.
The ad interim SFA-designate also obfuscated the issues against him by claiming that it’s all part of the destabilization plot to bring down the administration of President Duterte. Senator Antonio Trillanes IV, on the other hand, said an impeachment case will oust Duterte by May this year because of his culpability in the alleged extrajudicial killings of suspects in his brutal war on drugs. The supermajority coalition in the House of Representatives where an impeachment is initiated, however, cast doubts on whether such a move will prosper.
Yasay also gave an insight into his personal agenda and where his loyalty lies. He said he returned to the Philippines and decided to stay when conditions improved after martial law. He gave himself away that he returned only to the Philippines to pursue a better political life with all the perks and privileges. Where will he go to now as a stateless person?
President Rodrigo Duterte should really vet his appointees to the Cabinet and not appoint anybody just because he or she is a province mate from Davao, or a classmate in San Beda. The President is set to announce an acting SFA. Whether this would be a political appointee or a career diplomat, the President should do a deep vetting process. The one who should be given a chance to head the Department of Foreign Affairs is career ambassador Enrique Manalo who’s presently DFA Undersecretary for Policy. Manalo has had ambassadorial postings in Geneva, London and New York with the Philippine Mission to the United Nations.
The local diplomatic corps who had been silent throughout the brief tenure of Yasay should now speak and endorse one of their own.
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Meanwhile, the confirmation of Environment and Natural Resources Secretary Regina Lopez was deferred by the CA due to the numerous opposition against her. Strongest critics to Gina Lopez confirmation were Rep. Josephine Ramirez Sato who also brought down Yasay earlier with her pointed questioning, and Carlos Arcilla, a geosciences professor at the University of the Philippines.
Sato, a Liberal Party congresswoman representing Occidental Mindoro, grilled Gina Lopez on issues concerning her grasp of the mining industry and environmental measures undertaken by her department. In reply to Sato’s question to what is a watershed, Lopez simply replied: “A watershed is a watershed, a watershed, a watershed,” adding she as Environment Secretary can change its definition under her mandate. Yeah, right.
The smart-alecky answer only drew more intense questioning by those opposing her confirmation. Arcilla brought up the issue of the First Philippine Industrial Corp. (FPIC) oil leak underground in Bangkal, Makati. Hundreds of residents of the 23-story West Tower in the area had to be evacuated because of the toxic fumes and possible explosion. The FPIC is owned by Gina Lopez’s family. Arcilla said Secretary Lopez never visited the residents once to look into their plight. The litigation against the Lopez company is ongoing.
The groundswell opposing Gina Lopez’s confirmation was triggered by her closure of 23 mines and the cancellation of 73 mining production sharing agreements of other companies. Arcilla cited Gina’s conflict of interest when she allowed a Lopez company to operate an open pit mining near a watershed in Lobo, Batangas even as she was shutting down other mining companies for alleged environmental violations.