Duterte backtracks on ‘lobby money’ talk vs CA

MANILA, Philippines -  President Duterte has clarified his statement that lobby money could have been used to dissuade members of the powerful Commission on Appointments (CA) from accepting the appointment of Gina Lopez as environment secretary.   

Presidential spokesman Ernesto Abella said Duterte made the clarification at Monday’s Cabinet meeting to indicate that he did not mean money changed hands when he said “lobby money talks” during a gathering in Davao City last week.

“We need to correct that. You know, the President did say last night that when he said lobby, it’s not necessarily money. He corrected himself. I mean he clarified himself,” Abella said.

Duterte’s statement came after Sen. Panfilo Lacson decried his statement, saying that the CA rejected Lopez for lack of qualification.  

“He said that when he said lobby, people automatically assume that there was an exchange of money. But he said basically, that lobby can, lobby he says is a legal thing that you can actually exercise in order to persuade one’s particular position,” he said. 

“So, it was not pejorative – he was saying in a sense. It was…he was clarifying last night. It was not a pejorative accusation that money was transferred or money was exchanged,” Abella explained.

In issuing the clarification, Abella claimed the President was not backtracking on his statement. “He’s not back-pedaling, he’s simply adding to the explanation.” 

“He merely said, when I said lobby it’s not necessarily money. He said lobby is a legitimate occupation,” Abella said, adding lobbying was not necessarily financial exchange but a “legitimate persuasion.”

Amid insinuations that mining groups prevailed in ousting Lopez from the DENR, Abella merely said that the lobby came from interested parties.

“It’s only general. He did not specify,” he said. “That was his statement so basically I don’t know kung saan siya nanggagaling (where he is coming from) but I am sure his coming from a position of certainty.”  Pressed further, Abella rejected queries on whether the President was referring to returning “favors” to the interest groups.

The confirmation hearings for Lopez showcased a new rule on secret balloting, which caused confusion and controversy because of the statements made about the supposed influence of mining interests on the Commission on Appointments (CA). 

Apart from a handful of legislators who openly declared how they voted in the case of Lopez, the majority opted to keep silent, raising speculations about who actually opposed her confirmation.

CA member Sen. Paolo Benigno Aquino IV filed a resolution yesterday calling for a review of the rule on secret balloting, as he argued that this kind of controversy should not happen again.

Even though the CA is an independent constitutional body, Aquino emphasized that its members are still elected representatives of the people and as such, they owe it to the people to be transparent in all their actions. 

“Many in the public were saying that it was not good for them not to know how we voted. After all we are representatives of the people and it is because of their votes that we are here, so it would be good for us to review or for the Commission to consider if this process should be continued,” Aquino said.

Immediately after Lopez was rejected by the CA, senators belonging to the Liberal Party were quick to disclose that they voted to confirm her.

Majority or 16 members of the panel reportedly voted against Lopez’s appointment, while eight were in favor of it. A number of senators also disclosed how they voted in favor or against Lopez’s confirmation, but the rest, including most of the members of the contingent from the House of Representatives, chose to remain silent on the matter.

Lopez had blamed “business interests” for the rejection of her appointment.

Aquino called for a review of the amended rules on executive session and for action on referral of nominations or appointments, which allow secret voting via ballot, recalling that the rule was first introduced after some CA members raised safety and security concerns. Secret balloting, they argued then, would shield them from pressure to vote a certain way, particularly from the lobby groups.

Aquino said that the case of Lopez, who earned the ire of the mining industry and its supporters for ordering closure and suspension of mining firms she accused of violating environmental laws, showed something was wrong with this rule, thus necessitating a review.

“The public pronouncements of some of the members of the Commission on Appointments are seemingly inconsistent with the votes cast during the executive session, thereby casting doubt on the integrity of the secret voting process,” Aquino said in his resolution.

“I think it’s important to review. Some of my colleagues have their concerns regarding physical safety, public pressure or the lobby. But we have to weigh that with the process which has to be transparent and where we’re accountable for our votes,” he added.

Vice President Leni Robredo expressed regret yesterday over the rejection of Lopez’s appointment.

“We regret that she was not given longer time to do her functions,” Robredo said in an interview with dzBB. 

The Vice President said Lopez has the quality needed by the agency. 

“When you’re a DENR secretary you face big (businesses), and she’s not afraid to face them,” she said in Filipino. – With Marvin Sy, Helen Flores