Cerge gets Commission on Appointments nod as Press Secretary

CEBU, Philippines - The Commission on Appointments (CA) yesterday unanimously confirmed the appointment of Cebuano Cerge Remonde as press secretary.

Remonde, in a telephone interview, said he is “very grateful” to the CA for the confirmation of his appointment, Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile described as done in a “record breaking fashion” since Remonde’s credentials were submitted just last week.

Normally it takes the CA months to confirm an appointment, but with Remonde’s case, it only took days and just less than a day to hear it.

It was Batangas Rep Eileen Ermita-Buhain, chairperson of the CA committee on government corporation and other offices, who presented Remonde’s credentials to the plenary and then moved for his appointment’s confirmation.

Her motion was seconded by Senator Richard Gordon and Cebu 1st District Rep. Eduardo R. Gullas.

Normally, Remonde said the Senate contingent would hear the motion in the afternoon, usually after lunch break, but in yesterday’s case, after the House contingent had approved his appointment, at 11 a.m., the Senate went ahead with its approval, too, also without objection.

Remonde said he is also “grateful” for fellow Cebuano Rep. Gullas “for making all this possible.”

Gullas heads the House contingent in the CA.

“Murag kilat. Busa bilib jud kos power of influence ni Congressman Gullas. I could say that he’s responsible for all that,” said Remonde.

Also, he thanked all those who sponsored the motion for their “touching” words.

 Remonde said Sen. Richard Gordon recalled his “humble background,” while Sen. Rodolfo Biazon told the body that although they just had a verbal row recently, he didn’t use it against the press secretary.  

Remonde, who is a native of Argao town, was first named press undersecretary and head of Radio-TV Ma-lacañang shortly after the EDSA-2 revolt that brought President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo to power in 2001.

He was then appointed as chairman and Chief Executive Officer of government-sequestered television station Intercontinental Broadcasting Corp. (IBC-13).

In 2004, he was named to head the Government Mass Media Group.

Remonde also became lead convenor of the National Anti-Poverty Commission, and headed the Presidential Management Staff until his appointment as Press Secretary February 1 this year.

Remonde reportedly got the nod the CA not only for his excellent credentials, but also for his “nice smile and peculiar and unique” English accent.

Enrile, who heads the CA, said that Remonde’s confirmation was apparently the fastest “during my tenure as a senator to have been confirmed by the CA.”

“A very special case that only shows that he is doing his job very well.”

An elated Remonde said it was Enrile “who gave me my first banner story as a reporter.”

“I was a correspondent of the Manila Bulletin when he was a defense secretary. Maybe I was about 18 or 19 years old at that time,” Remonde recalled of the scoop story on Enrile’s early showing of discontent with the Marcos regime.

“He hijacked me in Cebu,” Enrile said.

“This was in Magellan Hotel, he sought me out and I was sleepy. I thought, who was this young brass to come and wake me up at this hour? So we had a long interview and he asked very penetrating questions and I said, this guy will go somewhere else,” he said. — Liv G. Campo (THE FREEMAN)