Marcoleta raises legal concerns over interim appointments during CA hearing — ABS-CBN News

[0:00] inquiries if there is uh there are any from the members of the committee [0:13] a honorable uh marco let us recognize good morning lieutenant general teralta [0:38] is may 14 1970 yes sir which was last month yes sir meaning to say you already reached the age of [0:48] 56 and then you were bypassed upon senior the adjournment of congress on june 3 is that correct [0:59] yes me yes sir as a matter of fact uh this circumstance also applies to the rest of your [1:15] colleagues namely vice admiral alan m javier whose birthday is may 16 1970 major general is agani [1:27] christi birth date is made is april 21 1970 brigadier general nice foro diaz birthday may 5 1970 and [1:43] brigadier general rose mawati remo april 24 1970 meaning to say the five of you general already [1:56] reached the age of 56 and everyone was bypassed upon the scene of the adjournment of congress [2:09] last june 3 2026. that is a pack sir and uh are you aware of republic act 11939 yes sir republic [2:30] act 11939 amended republic act 11709 you're familiar of that do you know why i am citing this [2:47] particular law general yes sir why we are less than one year sir yes you are correct section 2 of republic [3:06] act 11709 which is now section 1 of 11939 last paragraph says that to be eligible for appointment or [3:20] promotion to the grade of brigadier general or commodore 07 or higher except for positions under sections 2a [3:33] and 2b the officer must have at least one year remaining of active service before compulsory [3:39] retirement and would you say that you lack at least one year remaining of active service before your [3:51] compulsory uh retirement yes sir we were ordered to come here sir and we are directly to appear before [4:00] the commission appointments and so therefore it only means that the five of the the five of you may [4:09] no longer be eligible for reappointment in view of the prohibition under section 1 of republic act [4:17] 11939 am i correct sir yes sir thank you thank you mr chair thank you honorable mark honorable uh senator [4:28] ping lakson is recognized yes mr chairman just for clarity i believe and i was told by the secretary of [4:36] the commission on appointments that the ad interim appointments of this fine gentleman and lady is a [4:43] mere submission of their previous ad interim appointments given before uh the resumption the may 25th [4:49] 2026 resumption of the first regular session and since this is a special session it is a continuation of the [5:01] first regular session therefore hindi pa po sila pasok do sa one year ban kasi hindi naman po nila [5:08] kasalanan na nagkagulo gulo kami din sa senado at hindi na take up yung kanilang confirmation so with that [5:16] manifestation mr chairman uh i move that we recommend to the plenary the confirmation of uh [5:25] the apport stated or aforementioned the gentleman and lady uh uh in in plenary uh i so move mr chairman [5:36] there's a yes honorable reason to veros second the motion mr chair any objection to the motion julie [5:44] seconded mr chair yes honorable albano is recognized uh mr chair your honors on the part of the minority [5:53] we place on record our full support for the confirmation of the five generals and flag [5:58] officers of the armed forces of the philippines whose appointments are now under consideration [6:04] these officers have rendered long and distinguished service to the nation as such the minority supports [6:09] the favorable confirmation of their appointments and commends their dedication and sacrifices in [6:15] their service to the filipino people mr chair as the acting minority floor leader on behalf of the [6:21] minority and the filipino people we interpose to objection to their confirmation thank you mr jen [6:26] thank you honorable albano honorable bongo is recognized mr chair uh esteemed colleagues allow me [6:39] uh to express my uh full support for this uh commission uh uh as this commission gives its uh consent to the [6:50] well-deserved appointments uh of the senior officers of the armed forces of the philippines uh these [6:58] officers have demonstrated professionalism yeah yeah opposite uh support uh support tampa manifestation [7:09] uh these officers have demonstrated professionalism dedication and unwavering commitment to their [7:16] uh duties in safeguarding our nation's sovereignty protecting our people and upholding the constitution [7:24] uh wala na po akong uh katanungan sa kanila and in fact itong dalawa no si vice admiral [7:32] alan madridabier lieutenant general edmundo feralta are uh mga tanglao uh diwa class of uh 92 uh their [7:44] years of service leadership and sacrifice reflect the highest ideals of military service and have earned [7:51] them the trust and confidence of their fellow servicemen at naintindihan ko rin po na yun yung one year [7:57] uh bar rule no na dapat nilang mahabol dahil bawat uh star na naka alam po ni ni senator ping [8:08] laxon yan noon pa parati nating pinaglalaban ah dahil napakahalaga po sa kanila yung one star na madagdag sa [8:18] sa kanila yan po'y daladala na nila hanggang sa kanilang ah pag tanda at ah maraming salamat rin po senator senator [8:27] ping sa mga suporta mo noon sa sundalo ah mr chair dahil sa kanilang ah kabayanihan at pagbibigay [8:35] servisyo sa ating bansa gusto ko lang pong bigyang pagkilala at pagpupugay sina vice admiral alan [8:41] madridabier lieutenant general edmundo feralta philippine army major general ah isagani ocampo [8:48] christie ah na naging ah naging ah psg ah rin po nung ah dat panahon ni dating pangulong rodrigo [8:56] duterte brigadier general ah nice foro ah nice foro no ah medrana diaz junior [9:05] philippine army and ah brigadier general rosa mawate ah remo ah women in ah uniform ma'am sa panahon ng ah ah [9:19] ah ah banta sa siguridad sa kuna at iba't pang hamon sa kapayapaan at kayusan sila ay naninindigan [9:26] at naglingkod ng buong ah katapatan sa sa sa ibat ibang tungkulin at responsibilidad na kanilang [9:33] ginagampanan na patunayan ng mga opisyal nito ang kanilang kakayahang mamuno at maglingkod panahon ng [9:39] pandemia panahon ng ah gyera sa marawi ah bagyo lindol baha patuloy kayo nagtatrabaho para sa ating mga [9:48] kababayan at ah maalala ko po ah nung panahon ni dating pangulong rodrigo duterte ah pinaglaba [9:56] natin na madoble po ang sahod ng entry position ng ah military at lahat po ng uniform personnel [10:04] dahil po yan sa inyong sakripisyo para sa bayan at hindi po natin mararating itong kinaroroonan [10:10] natin kung hindi po dahil ah sa inyo as your ah as our first line of defense your continued courage and [10:20] commitment are vital to defending our country's honor rights and future we also call on you to remain [10:28] steadfast in protecting our sovereignty maraming salamat po sa inyong dedikasyon sakripisyo at walang [10:35] katulad na servisyo sa ating mga kababayan wala po akong katanungan kung hindi mag nagbibigay lang po [10:42] po ako ng ah full support dito sa in sa ating hearing sa commission on appointments ah dati naman [10:48] po akong membro dito since 2019 at ah hindi po matutumbasan ang inyong contribution sa bayan pero meron [10:58] lang po akong paalala sa ating ah armed forces of the philippines unahin lagi ang interest [11:07] ng bayan unahin po lagi ang interest ng bawat pilipino mabuhay po kayo maraming salamat po thank you [11:18] mr chair uh senator bongo yes uh honorable markuleta mr chair i did not get proper explanation on the concern that i [11:28] raised before this committee i don't think we are in a position to violate an existing law what i [11:36] heard is an assumption that was passed on to the secretary of this commission somebody presumed that [11:46] the appointment made last year is supposed to be continued may i may i ask the secretary to explain [11:52] that if that assumption is correct and if that assumption is enough to override the clear provision [12:00] of the law honorable lakson again i'd like to clarify hindi po last year before may 25 2026 [12:12] yung nag resume tayo ng first regular session kasi nag break tayo bago tayo mag resume they were [12:19] given at interim appointments by the president so yun po yung ina-apply natin because a special session [12:25] that we are having today is a continuation of the first regular session mr chairman so yung [12:34] birthday nila uh fell uh after kailan ang birthday mo general may 14 so yung ad interim appointments [12:47] were given before may 14 i suppose so you confirm that so hindi ka covered ng one-year ban that's [12:55] that's the clarification that that that i uh manifested earlier mr chairman how about the others covered [13:02] sila ng uh hindi sila covered ng one-year ban when they were given their ad interim appointments [13:08] before their before may 25 diba kasi kung after may 25 uh resumption nomination at saka hindi na [13:16] kayo mag-a-apply but since you were given your ad interim appointments since congress was in recess at [13:22] that time uh having resumed on may 25 hindi po kayo mako cover ng one-year ban that's my point so i hope i [13:31] satisfy the uh query posted by the honorable markuleta thank you mr chairman well mr chair that is an [13:40] assumption uh somebody should explain from this committee that assumption is correct because the [13:47] law is the law they have just uh reads uh their aids of 56 and they were bypassed that is a fact that we [13:58] cannot change that fact uh mr chair that that is the only point that i'm trying to raise here to raise [14:05] here kasi maliwanag po yung sinasabi naming batas wala po tayong personalan dito i hope that these five [14:13] uh officers gusto ko rin naman sila na mailagay natin sa tamang uh ayos ng kanilang confirmation [14:21] but there is a hurdle here ilang ilang problema rito ah mr chair kasi maliwanag po yung sinasabi ng batas [14:29] lumilitaw after their compulsory retirement less than one year na eh as a matter of fact they were [14:35] unable to submit the documents for confirmation only siguro hindi ko po alam but only the secretary [14:44] can testify when exactly were they able to complete the documents for confirmation ang may kasalanan po [14:51] talaga yung june 3 kasi nag nag ano na tayo nag adjourn tapagkatapos sanaman lang before [14:58] adjournment sinabi natin nag schedule tayo na ikukonfirm natin sila wala nga silang kasalanan but [15:05] somebody is at fault here and then we we have now a problem with the law we can just simply say na we [15:12] assume that they are not covered by one year ban no the law is very clear mr chair salamat po [15:19] chair with the uh session suspended [17:26] it's uh it was session suspended it's uh it was session suspended it's uh it was [27:28] session suspended it's a committee hearing suspended so we now uh continue i believe uh [27:39] honorable uh marcy tudoro okay now honorable uh tudoro some amazing like to make a manifestation [27:58] honorable marcy tudoro mr chairman point of information uh bago po ako rito pero [28:06] uh meron po tayong kaso matibag versus benipayo gr number 149036 of 2002 uh this is something to do [28:18] and defining what is a bypass uh but a bypass uh uh appointment uh as pointed out that pointed out [28:27] earlier by senator laxon that this is basically a continuation of the previous uh uh session [28:38] uh hence the point was was not technically uh bypass as uh defined under the said uh doctrine under [28:48] batibag versus uh benipayo uh point of information uh mr presiding uh mr chairman uh uh this may help or [29:05] guide uh or guide the the committee in its uh on its uh on its uh uh uh uh decision uh as defined a bypass [29:19] uh appointment of course only when upon the close of the session of congress it's true that uh this uh [29:27] the the congress was seen in the adjoined but uh a special session was uh called upon so it's being [29:35] considered uh a continuation this this uh this proceeding so if june 17 of this year is considered [29:44] a continuation of the same congressional session and this is not a new session uh it's [29:52] it's it that event triggers the bypass but not yet but have yet not yet occurred therefore the [29:59] appointment remain pending and subject to the ca action uh this is the humble humble uh observation [30:08] and opinion on the on the matter mr chair that the appointment remain pending and subject to ca action [30:18] thank you uh honorable to dora yes uh honorable mark letter mr chair i think we should clearly clarify [30:30] that this plenary session is not a conf it's not a continuation of the last session this plenary session [30:39] is not a continuation of the last session simply because this is a clearly separate proceeding given [30:46] that congress adjourned cine day on june 3 this is very clear we should not explain it any further [30:58] matibag versus benipayo was quoted mr chair in this case mr chair not interim appointment can be [31:06] terminated for two causes specified in the constitution article 7 section 16 paragraph 2 [31:17] ang sabi doon the first cause is the disapproval of his ad interim appointment by the ca the second one [31:26] is the adjournment of congress without the ca acting on his appointment ito yung matibag versus [31:32] banipayo mr chair may i manifest that i have nothing uh against the the five officers subject of [31:43] today's confirmation i think we have to thank them for their gallantry and service to our nation i'm just [31:51] trying to make a point here but i am not objecting because we need we need to know and we need to [32:02] articulate what is the law that must be the concern of this proceeding mr chair sanay wala na yung [32:13] assumption kasi nag sinasabi pa nila kanina that there is a continuation this is not alam natin lahat [32:19] yun eh because we're misleading our members for for doing that mr chair ang importante na lang dito [32:27] kung wala namang mag-object sa kanina i'm just pointing it for the record that there is a law that must be [32:36] respected in connection with this mr chair thank you thank you honorable marcoleta considering that [32:43] earlier there was a motion of yes honorable uh go ahead mr chairman i i was just going to manifest [32:52] uh consider that this is um the the manifestations of the gentlemen um are actually debatable because [33:02] the commission on appointments is a different in constitutional body than congress itself [33:09] kung tutusin debatable yun kaya talagang pwedeng continuation only for that uh matter mr chairman go ahead [33:18] yes majority floor thank you honorable soto yes mr chair uh since there was there's no objection and [33:28] there was a previous motion so i moved to uh uh after the previous motion considering that there's no [33:39] objection the previous motion of honorable uh laxon is hereby approved majority floor leader mr chair since [34:03] there are no more objections uh i move to recommend to the planning for the commission to confirm the [34:08] adequate appointments of the five generals and tag officers of the afp so move mr chair there is a [34:14] motion without any objection the same is hereby approved majority floor leader mr chair there being [34:22] no other matters to discuss i move to adjourn the meeting on motion of the majority floor leader [34:28] there being no objection the meeting is hereby adjourned