Purisima faces CA today

MANILA, Philippines -  Finance Secretary Cesar Purisima will walk through the gauntlet today as he faces the powerful Commission on Appointments.

Purisima will be at the Senate today “for the deliberations on his ad interim appointment chaired by the committee on finance,” according to an advisory sent by his office yesterday.

The confirmation of Purisima as a member of President Aquino’s Cabinet has long been delayed. His fellow Cabinet members, Energy Secretary Jose Almendras and Trade Secretary Gregory Domingo have already overtaken him in hurdling deliberations by the influential body.

The CA did not take up Purisima’s appointment last January when the body deliberated on Almendras’ and Domingo’s appointment.

Purisima has said that the government needs the crucial support of both houses of Congress in the confirmation process.

Earlier, Deputy Minority Leader and Quezon Rep. Danilo Suarez has questioned Purisima’s move to claim P6 billion in taxes from the Pagbilao coal plant for the government and therefore threatened to block Purisima’s confirmation.

Suarez believes the taxes should be paid to the provincial government and not to the National Government.

Employees of the Department of Finance (DOF) continue to wait for Purisima’s confirmation, saying that the confirmation of their boss bodes well for the economy.

Sources said Purisima would likely breeze through deliberations at the CA given his track record since he took over the Finance portfolio last July.

As Finance chief, Purisima spearheaded the government’s issuance of peso-denominated dollar bonds, the first for the country.

 He is also the chief architect of the Aquino administration’s public-private partnership for infrastructure.

Under the PPP scheme, the government will tap the help of the private sector for the construction of crucial infrastructure the country needs. These include roads, bridges and airports.

The participation of the private sector would help free up government funds that would instead be used for other crucial projects such as public health and education.

The government is eyeing to bid out at least 10 PPP projects this year and another 10 next year.