The powerful Commission on Appointments on Tuesday suspended deliberations on the appointment of Social Welfare Secretary Erwin Tulfo after CA member-congressmen Oscar Malapitan and Rodante Marcoleta raised issues on his previous service in the American military and his libel cases as a journalist.
The CA, however, gave the green light to the ad interim appointment of Public Works Secretary Manuel Bonoan after a one-hour confirmation hearing.
Bonoan received praise from the lawmaker-members of the bicameral committee, with Senate President Juan Miguel Zubiri saying there was no objection to the confirmation of the secretary who previously served the Department of Public Works and Highways with “flying colors” for 44 years.
Appointed to the post by President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. after moving to the private sector following his retirement from the DPWH in 2010, Bonoan was also branded as “ROTC” or “Return of the Comeback” and a manager well-loved by his staff and the department secretariat.
But for Tulfo, Malapitan of the First District of Caloocan questioned his previous enlistment to the United States Army.
“You were enlisted with the US Army from 1988 to 1992. My question is did you denounce your Filipino citizenship?” Malapitan asked.
Tulfo then asked for an executive session, but Bacolod Rep. Greg Gasataya, who chairs the CA Labor, Employment,
Social Welfare, and Migrant Workers Committee, allowed the deliberation to continue, leading to a follow-up question from SAGIP party-list Rep. Marcoleta.
“Correct me if I’m wrong but to be an enlisted in the US Army, either you are a citizen by birth or you have acquired US citizenship by naturalization or that you are a lawful permanent resident. What is the status of your citizenship when you were an enlisted member of the US Army and when you served in active military service in Europe?” Marcoleta asked.
Despite saying he supported Tulfo’s appointment to the Department of Social Welfare and Development, Marcoleta then opened discussion on Tulfo’s previous conviction for four counts of libel.
The party-list solon said he was trying to determine whether the former broadcast journalist’s conviction for four counts of libel will be an issue in the process of his confirmation.
“As the Supreme Court enunciated in several cases, libel is an offense that involves moral turpitude. In some other cases disposed of by the Supreme Court, there were certain people who were disqualified from holding positions because they have been convicted of crimes involving moral turpitude,” he said.
“I could not have asked you this question, Secretary, if it did not appear in the report submitted to us by the Commission on Appointments,” Marcoleta added.
For Bonoan, Marcoleta, in the plenary confirmation, cited his four decades of service at the DPWH starting in 1966 as a clerk until he became a civil engineer and Senior Undersecretary when he retired in 2010.
From DPWH, Bonoan worked in big private sector companies until he was appointed last June by Mr. Marcos.
Sen. Imee Marcos, the President’s sister, said Bonoan is highly qualified for the position and told the panel in jest that Ilocos Norte is having difficulty in explaining the secretary’s “unexplained poverty.”
“I thought my career in government had already reached its peak and had come into conclusion. It is quite unimaginable how one day, my apparently concluded career in the department suddenly resurrected,” Bonoan said in his introductory speech.
He said he accepted the President’s offer to join the Cabinet for the love of the country, despite his family’s reluctance.
“I am well aware that the job is enormous, especially in these challenging times. I recognize that the Department of Public Works and Highways is one of the key agencies that stimulate economic progress and relaunch our country out of the effects of the pandemic,” Bonoan said.