Isabela Rep. Rodolfo Albano, the committee chairman, said Romulo, also a former opposition member of the Batasan during the Marcos regime and the first appointee to the Arroyo Cabinet, meets all the qualifications needed for the top Cabinet post.
Albano said there is no controversy involving the highly qualified Romulo so it took his panel only a few minutes to endorse Romulo’s confirmation.
Romulo is expected to be confirmed this afternoon during the CA plenary session.
Meanwhile, Sen. Luisa Ejercito Estrada disclaimed yesterday any quid pro quo between the opposition and the Arroyo administration over the nomination of her chief of staff, former Immigration Commissioner Rufus Rodriguez, as ambassador to Germany.
She said the Arroyo administration has not made any overtures to the camp of former President Estrada, who is being tried for plunder in the Sandiganbayan.
She said Rodriguez’s nomination cannot be interpreted as an attempt to disable a key member of the Estrada camp. Rodriguez was also a lawyer of Puwersa ng Masa, the opposition’s coalition bloc.
"Nobody is indispensable, even in our group. I have an idea on why Rufus was nominated but I will keep it to myself," she said.
She revealed that Vice President and Foreign Affairs Secretary Teofisto Guingona Jr. had previously offered Rodriguez the ambassadorial post in Brazil but Rodriguez declined it.
She said Rodriguez relented after Guingona gave him the Bonn post as a second option. — Efren Danao