FEB 25, 2016

NR # 4121

Committee on Revision of Laws approves bill declaring CA-bypassed

presidential appointees ineligible for reappointment
The House committee on revision of laws has endorsed for plenary approval a
proposal declaring any presidential nominee who has been bypassed by the Commission
on Appointments (CA) to be ineligible for reappointment by the President.
Approved and endorsed by the committee chaired by Rep. Marlyn L. PrimiciasAgabas (6th District, Pangasinan) is House Bill 6402, or the proposed Ineligible
Nominees Act, which substituted HB 141 authored by Rep. Francis Gerald A. Abaya (1 st
District, Cavite) and HB 2969 by Reps. Rufus B. Rodriguez (2nd District, Cagayan de Oro)
and his younger brother Maximo B. Rodriguez, Jr. (Party-list, ABAMIN).
A salient feature of the bill is that a nomination bypassed for three consecutive
instances or disapproved by a majority vote of the CA for failure to submit documentary
requirements within a required period shall render the nominee be ineligible for
reappointment by the President. The elder Rodriguez said the bill aims to uphold the
constitutional duties of the CA by setting limits on the power of the President to reappoint
bypassed nominees.
Rodriguez, chairman of the Ad Hoc Committee on the Bangsa Moro Basic Law,
said the CA is usually reluctant to reject outright the presidential nominees, hence, would
not confirm the appointment resulting in bypass.
However, despite such bypass, the President would reappoint the same nominees.
This practice of the President of simply reappointing her nominees, even after several
bypasses, subverts the principle of confirmation mandated by our Constitution, said
Rodriguez.
Furthermore, Rodriguez said this situation makes a mockery of the constitutional
duties of the CA to confirm and reject presidential appointees on the basis of the check
and balance powers of the legislative branch of the government.
Abaya, a vice chairman of the Committee on Information and Technology, said the
CAs constitutional mandate to serve as an effective check and balance against the possible
abuse of the Presidents power to appoint is frustrated by the current practice, as the
President merely reappoints all her nominees regardless of the number of times the said
nominees have been bypassed by the CA.
The restraint against possible abuse of the Presidents appointing power is clearly
rendered ineffective, if not totally inexistent. In fact, a Cabinet official who has been
successively by-passed for 15 times in a span of three years has been re-appointed by the

President and allowed to continue performing the functions reserved only to those officials
whose nominations have been confirmed by the CA, said Abaya.
Through the bill, Abaya said the mandated constitutional principle check and
balance on the executives appointing power would be rightly enforced through the CA.
House Bill 6402 provides it is the State policy to uphold the system of check and
balance by subjecting certain appointments by the President to a confirmation process in
Congress to ensure the appointees have the integrity, proven track record and are not
disqualified to such positions.
Upon nomination of the President, the CA shall act on all nominations or
appointments submitted to it within 30 session days of Congress from their submission.
The CA shall rule by a majority vote of all members to consent to or confirm nominations
or appointments submitted to it by the President.
It is the duty of the nominee to submit to the CA the documentary requirements
within 30 days from receipt of his or her nomination or appointment. Failure to submit the
requirements within the required period is equivalent to one bypass. Failure to submit the
said requirements within 60 days shall cause the disapproval of the nomination or
appointment.
A bypassed nominee is one whose appointment has not been acted upon favorably
by the CA upon adjournment of session of Congress.
A nomination bypassed for three consecutive instances or disapproved by a majority
vote of the CA for failure to submit documentary requirements within a required period,
shall render the nominee ineligible for reappointment.
The bill is co-authored by Primicias-Agabas, Reps. Leni Gerona-Robredo, Ibarra M.
Gutierrez, Monique Yazmin Q. Lagdameo, Gwendolyn F. Garcia, Mariano U. Piamonte,
Jr., Ma. Victoria R. Sy-Alvarado, Sherwin T. Gatchalian, Luzviminda C. Ilagan, Juliette T.
Uy, Silvestre H. Bello, Leopoldo N. Bataoil, and Henry S. Oaminal. (30) rbb