(Eagle News)–The Palace on Wednesday, March 6, said Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas governor Ben Diokno did not need to get the approval of the Commission on Appointments after all.
Presidential Spokesperson Salvador Panelo issued the statement a day after he said the Palace was confident Diokno would get the nod of the CA for his appointment.
“After further evaluation of relevant laws and jurisprudence surrounding the appointment of former Secretary of Budget and Management Benjamin E. Diokno as the new Governor of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas, it is the position of the Palace that the said appointment need not be confirmed by the Commission on Appointments (CA),” Panelo said in a statement.
For this, Panelo cited Article VII, Section 16 of the 1987 Constitution which specifies the list of presidential appointments requiring the approval of the CA.
These are “a. heads of the executive departments; b. ambassadors; c. other public ministers and consuls; d. officers of the armed forces from the rank of colonel or naval captain; and e. other officers whose appointments are vested in the President under the Constitution, such as commissioners of Constitutional Commissions.”
“A perusal thereof reveals that the Governor of the BSP does not fall under any of the categories of officials,” Panelo said.
In the case of Calderon vs. Carale,” Panelo said the Supreme Court ruled Congress “cannot amend the provisions of the Constitution by mere legislation” to “require confirmation by the Commission on Appointments of appointments extended by the President to government officers additional to those expressly mentioned in the first sentence of Sec. 16, Art. VII of the Constitution.’”
According to Panelo, “while the petition in Tarrosa vs. Singson was dismissed due to its nature and the lack of legal standing of the petitioner, the Supreme Court in the said case had the occasion to cite the above-mentioned case of Calderon vs. Carale and also explain that, ‘Congress cannot by law expand the confirmation powers of the Commission on Appointments and require confirmation of appointment of other government officials not expressly mentioned in the first sentence of Section 16 of Article VII of the Constitution.”
“For everyone’s information, the said case involved the appointment of Mr. Gabriel C. Singson as BSP Governor. Following the dismissal of the case, Mr. Singson’s appointment therefore did not undergo a confirmation process with the CA,” he said.
“…It is submitted that the appointment of former Secretary and new BSP Governor Diokno does not need confirmation from the CA,” Panelo added.
