Press Release
25 June 2007
MIRIAM: APPOINTMENTS GRAFT STEMS FROM ONE-PERSON VETO POWER
Sen. Miriam Defensor Santiago, chair of the committee on foreign relations of the Commission on Appointments, said that extortion by CA members from cabinet nominees is facilitated by the one-person veto provision in the CA rules.
"In effect, under the notorious Section 20 of the CA Rules, it takes only one CA member to veto all the rest of the 23 other members. This one-person veto is what empowers a CA member to extort bribes, government appointments, or public works contracts, in exchange for confirmation," Santiago said.
Santiago referred to the CA Rules which provides: "Section 20. Suspension of consideration of nominations or appointments. Any member may move for the suspension of action by the Commission on any nomination or appointment favorably recommended by a standing committee and the Chair shall suspend the consideration of said nomination or appointment: Provided, that, such suspension may be taken up in the next succeeding session of the Commission; Provided, further, that this section shall not apply to nominations or appointments taken up by the Commission during the last session prior to a sine die adjournment of Congress."
“Under Sec. 20, any CA member, whether a senator or a representative, may move to suspend consideration of a cabinet member’s nomination, even if the committee has already recommended the nominee’s confirmation to the plenary session. This motion to suspend cannot be debated, and there is no voting. Thus, by mere motion of one member, a nominee is automatically bypassed. There is no remedy. Any ordinary member may invoke Sec. 20 during the plenary session. In effect, under Sec. 20, any member can veto, not only the committee concerned, but also the entire CA," Santiago explained.
"When a member of my committee signifies that he will invoke Sec. 20 in the plenary session, I no longer call for a vote in the committee because it would be futile. Thus, as committee chair, I am helpless against any member who threatens to invoke Sec. 20 against a nominee," Santiago said.
Santiago said that she is skeptical of the results of any investigation into the extortion charge against certain CA members, because of the extreme difficulty in securing witnesses.
"Extortion, like bribery, takes place only between two people, and one of them has to testify for the charge to stick. Generally, no nominee will incriminate himself by testifying that he obtained confirmation by giving a bribe, an appointment, or a contract to a CA member. Further, it would be the nominee’s word against that of the solon, and therefore other things being equal, the presumption of innocence will be sustained," said Santiago, a former RTC Quezon City judge.
Santiago recalled that during her time, the CA repeatedly bypassed her as agrarian reform secretary, because shae refused to accommodate the recommendees and other illegal requests of certain CA members or their friends in the chamber.
"I was bullied and tormented during the sessions, and all the corrupt employees in the immigration bureau had a field day slinging mud at me, with the malicious encouragement of the arrogant senators and congressmen who wanted to take me down a peg or two. They were insufferable. It was a brutal process, sufficient to cause any idealist to be disillusioned with the political process for the rest of her life. In my case, I determined that if I ever joined Congress, I would do the right thing and upstage them all," Santiago said.
By contrast, Santiago said that when she became CA member, she proved that there is no reason to delay a confirmation, when her committee on foreign relations confirmed the nomination of foreign affairs secretary Alberto Romulo after only one session.
Santiago’s committee also posted the highest number of confirmations for the 13th Congress, having secured confirmation of 231 DFA ambassadors, consuls, and other high-level DFA positions.
Santiago said that she recommends strictly no communication, except of an official nature, between any CA member and a nominee during the confirmation process.
"The CA by itself can repeal Sec. 20 and can also make it illegal for a CA member and a nominee to communicate directly or indirectly outside of the public committee hearings. That way, the opportunities for extortion would be minimized," she said.
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