Saludo told to vacate office immediately

MANILA, Philippines - Civil Service Commission Chairman Ricardo Saludo has to immediately vacate his office following the rejection of his appointment by the Commission on Appointments, Isabela Rep. Rodolfo Albano III said yesterday.

Albano, one of 12 congressmen in the CA, said Saludo has to respect the decision of the commission which is vested by the Constitution with the power to approve or reject major appointments by the President.

He said he knows of no move in the House of Representatives to save Saludo.

“I doubt if the House will intervene. Besides, if no CA member takes the cudgels for Mr. Saludo, then that’s it, he’s finished,” he said.

Saludo said there’s supposed to be a resolution in the House that could save his appointment.

But Albano said it’s not the House contingent but the Senate team in the CA that had problems with Saludo.

He said he heard Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile, who is CA presiding officer, complaining about an alleged statement of the CSC chairman that he does not want to talk to politicians.

“There were also complaints about alleged inaction on certain concerns raised by some senators,” he said.

He added that even if congressmen in the CA have no issues against Saludo, they have to respect the consensus among Enrile and his Senate colleagues.

Two members of President Arroyo’s Cabinet are also facing rejection by the powerful appointments commission. They are Environment Secretary Lito Atienza and Energy Secretary Angelo Reyes.

Cebu Rep. Eduardo Gullas, head of the House CA contingent, has asked Enrile to terminate the deliberations on the appointments of the two Cabinet members and to schedule a vote on them.

Agusan del Sur Rep. Rodolfo Plaza, a member of the contingent, said his colleagues have reached a consensus to reject Atienza and Reyes.                

He said he and Gullas have problems with the environment secretary.

“I can support Secretary Reyes, but Secretary Atienza, no. My problem with him is that he has reinstated officials of his agency who are still facing graft and corruption cases. That has worsened graft and corruption in his agency,” he said.

He said some of the officials are accused of having amassed ill-gotten wealth and have been preventively suspended.

On Albano’s part, he said he has no complaint against Atienza and Reyes.

“But I have to abide by the consensus of our team,” he said.

Among members of the Arroyo Cabinet, Atienza and Reyes have waited the longest for their CA confirmation.

If the commission does not vote to reject them before Congress goes on its first break on Oct. 17, they would most likely be bypassed again.

Reyes once joked that he may never get the CA’s nod. He is reportedly planning to run for mayor of Taguig in the May 2010 elections.

Atienza, on the other hand, is eyeing a mayoral comeback in Manila against incumbent Alfredo Lim.