Nani, Dayrit get CA nod

The Commission on Appointments confirmed yesterday the appointment of Justice Secretary Hernando Perez and Health Secretary Manuel Dayrit, making them the first Cabinet members this year to hurdle the bicameral body.

Sen. Renato Cayetano, chairman of the CA committee on justice, said that with Perez as secretary, the justice department is "in good hands."

"Secretary Perez is a powerful instrument of the people seeking protection in the justice system," Cayetano said in moving for the confirmation of Perez.

He described Perez as "a man of his word, fair, firm and strong."

Perez was a law practitioner, law professor, law book author, an opposition member of the Batasan from 1984 to 1986, a transportation and communications secretary during the Aquino administration, and a member of the House from 1987 to 1998, when he became a deputy speaker.

Perez was subjected to further questioning by Sen. Sergio Osmeña III during the caucus yesterday about his role in the approval of a controversial government contract with a power firm. After the questioning, Osmeña said he would not vote against the confirmation of Perez in the plenary session.

Sen. Robert Barbers seconded the motion for the confirmation of Perez. Members of the opposition in the CA, except Sen. Robert Jaworski, abstained from voting on Perez’s confirmation during the plenary session.

Dayrit, on the other hand, got the unanimous nod of the CA, with Sen. Edgardo Angara endorsing his confirmation in behalf of the minority.

Sen. Loren Legarda, chairwoman of the CA committee on health, said that Dayrit was equipped with the necessary tools from his education to training to head the health department.

Legarda said the Dayrit, who has been with the DOH since 1987 in various capacities, has sterling professional credentials that made him internationally recognized.

Angara cited Dayrit’s heart for public health as one of the main reasons for supporting Dayrit’s confirmation. Dayrit served for eight years in a rural area in Mindanao.

Dayrit was confirmed on the day the health committee endorsed him. During the confirmation hearing, Iloilo Rep. Narciso Monfort questioned him about his policies on substandard drugs reportedly flooding the market.

Dayrit vowed to immediately revoke the certificate of product registration of drug manufacturers found making substandard drugs.

He also said that the Department of Health will speed up and improve the system on the registration of products, and strengthen pharmacology.

On questioning of Biliran Rep. Gerardo Espina and Barbers, Dayrit said he is sympathetic to the reversion to the DOH the funding and management of provincial and district hospitals in the 21 most depressed provinces.

Under the Local Government Code, health services were devolved to local government units, who have been responsible for their funding. Espina said poor provinces like Biliran could not afford the expense of maintaining a hospital. He said he would file a bill seeking to return to the national government, through the DOH, the funding and supervision of hospitals of depressed provinces.

In a related development, some 1,000 members of a non-government organization in Pasay City trooped to the Batasang Pambansa building in Quezon City yesterday to declare their support for the confirmation of Transportation and Communications Secretary Pantaleon Alvarez.

Rogelio Estrella, president of the Bangon Pasay Movement, said: "We are solidly behind Alvarez because we want him to continue the numerous reforms that he has started at the Department of Transportation and Communications."

Estrella accused "certain vested interests" of orchestrating "a well-funded campaign" to unseat Alvarez.