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Friday, March 29, 2024

Bautista, Acuzar get CA approval as Transport, Housing secretaries

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After two hearings, the powerful Commission on Appointments endorsed Tuesday the confirmation of the ad interim appointment of Jaime Bautista as secretary of the Department of Transportation.

Last week, the CA committee on transportation suspended the hearing on Bautista’s appointment due to time constraints.

At the same time, another panel also approved the ad interim appointment of Jose Rizalino Acuzar as secretary of the Department of Human Settlements and Urban Development (DHSUD).

The CA Committee on Human Settlements and Urban Development endorsed the confirmation of Acuzar’s appointment to the plenary in less than one hour, as the CA members from the House of Representatives did not raise any questions to the Housing secretary.

Only Senators Risa Hontiveros and Nancy Binay asked Acuzar about the updates on the housing projects in war-torn Marawi City and along the railroads.

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Before moving for the approval of the appointment of Bautista at the committee level, CA chairman and Senate President Juan Miguel Zubiri vouched for the Transportation chief’s competence.

“Here’s a fellow that doesn’t need to go through the learning curve. Even when he is sleeping, he thinks of the transport problem of the country and we need him right now because of the traffic jams, because of the traffic congestion because of the Christmas season. We need him to focus on his job,” Zubiri said.

“If I may, majority leader, do the honor of moving for the approval [at the] committee level for the ad interim appointment of our distinguished gentleman from the transport sector, Secretary Jimmy Bautista,” he added.
The motion was duly seconded by other members of the panel.

During the hearing, Bautista was asked by the members of the CA panel about the DOTr’s direction on the distribution of fuel subsidies and plans for the country’s airports and ports, among others.

Bautista, former president and chief operating officer of Philippine Airlines, was appointed by President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. to head the DoTr last June.

“The 12-member House contingent honored our commitment not to ask questions despite the fact that everyone is raring to ask questions and [has] prepared questions,” CA Majority Leader Luis Raymund Villafuerte manifested before he raised a motion to approve Azucar’s appointment.

He said the deliberations on Azucar’s appointment were the “fastest” the 19th Congress has ever seen, adding that “with great power comes great responsibility.”

“I would like to emphasize the swiftness [with which] we deliberated on the nomination of Secretary Acuzar. We expect the same swiftness in the implementation of the housing program of the President,” he said.

Meanwhile, business groups were rallying behind and endorsing the confirmation of Alfredo Pascual as secretary of the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI).

In a joint statement issued Tuesday, the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PCCI), Employers Confederation of the Philippines (ECOP), and Philippine Exporters Confederation Inc. (PhilExport) expressed support for the confirmation of Pascual to be at the helm of the DTI.

Last week, the CA suspended the deliberations on Pascual’s ad interim appointment.

PCCI president George Barcelon, ECOP president Edgardo Lacson, and PhilExport chairman Sergio Ortiz-Luis Jr. said “the DTI needs a capable leader as the Philippine economy is aiming to rebound from the pandemic and gears up to a more volatile situation brought about by geo-political tensions, changing trade and investment patterns, and
the advent of the Fourth Industrial Revolution.”

Barcelon, Lacson, and Ortiz said they were supporting Pascual’s industrial policy of harnessing innovation and digital transformation towards changing the Philippine industrial landscape combining inclusivity, dynamism, and competitiveness.

The business leaders added that they also supported Pascual’s goal of upsizing the micro, small and medium enterprises, promoting regional industrialization, enhancing ease of doing business, addressing skills mismatch, attracting investments, expanding exports, and enhancing consumer protection as these are the ways to enhance Philippine industries and accelerate the country’s post-pandemic economic growth.

Also, CA Committee on Foreign Affairs Chairperson Jinggoy Ejercito Estrada presided over a hybrid hearing on the nominations and ad interim appointments of seven foreign service officials Tuesday.

The panel has recommended the approval of the nomination and ad interim appointments of six foreign service officials but deferred the nomination of Manuel Antonio Teehankee as permanent representative of the Philippines to the World Trade Organization in Geneva Switzerland following the motion of Sen. Risa Hontiveros.

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