Exclusive
Just my opinion
By Raïssa Robles
CA confirmed Sonia Brady as Beijing envoy in just FIVE DAYS; and bypassed Robredo for THIRD time
Over the past two years year Jesse Robredo was bypassed THRICE, not twice by the Commission on Appointments (CA) for his confirmation as the Department of Interior and Local governments Secretary.
On top of that, his confirmation allegedly scheduled last Wednesday August 15, 2012 – or three days before he died – was postponed to later this month.
Consider that the CA confirmed Sonia Brady as Philippine ambassador to China in FIVE DAYS. Brady’s appointment was never on the table and was only submitted by Malacañang Palace to the CA on May 25, 2012. The CA confirmed her on May 30, 2012. To read about Brady’s appointment, please click on this link.
Between Sonia Brady and Jesse Robredo, Brady was probably an unknown to many of the 25-member CA and yet it was she who got the nod quickly.
This is why I say the 25-member CA and Senator Vicente Sotto III – chairman of the CA Committee on Local Governments – owes the public a brutally honest explanation why it did not confirm Robredo’s appointment a year after his appointment papers were submitted to Sotto’s CA committee. As the chair, it was Sotto’s responsibility to check the veracity of graft complaints submitted to his committee against Robredo. Did he do that? And what was his conclusion? He has not told the public.
Now that, in the wake of Robredo’s death, the public is beginning to show their love for him, congressmen and senators are falling all over themselves trying to cover up their hostility or indifference to the unconfirmed secretary.
Sotto, the TV comedian accused of plagiarism, has swiftly floated the idea of giving Robredo a “posthumous confirmation.” Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile, the ex-officio chair of the CA, has backed the idea. [UPDATE, 6:41 AM Aug 24, 2012: I based this sentence on a radio report. However, commenter @eoaquino has since pointed out to me that Enrile never endorsed this. I checked and she’s right. Here’s the link to Enrile’s ambush interview on the matter.]
A posthumous confirmation would make for an interesting scenario. How would the DILG staff, mayors and governors get in touch with the Secretary? Through prayers? [UPDATE, 7:10 AM, Aug 24, 2012: Other quarters have suggested using “spirit of the glass” or the ouija board in case of posthumous confirmation. What do you think?]
I once covered the CA extensively. I’d like to share with you what I learned about this “august” body which I once called “The Commission of Disappointments” in a column I wrote for Business Star.
Robredo was bypassed 3x
CA officials from L to R: Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile, Cong. Roilo Golez, Cong. Rodolfo Antonino, Sen. Alan Cayetano, Sen. Franklin Drilon, Cong. Rosendo Labadlabad, Sen. Joker Arroyo, Cong. Simeon Datumanong
The CA said Robredo was bypassed twice this year. Technically, that’s correct – because the CA qualified its statement by saying “this year”. The CA did not mention about last year – December 14, 2011 to be exact – when Robredo was bypassed for the first time. You can read about it by clicking here.
The second time Robredo was bypassed was in March 2012 and then again in June 2012. So, a total of three times. This is not counting the fact that three days before he died, Robredo was supposedly set to be confirmed according to Sotto. But the fact that Robredo still talked to Ca member-Congressman Rex Gatchalian and Senator Loren Legarda showed he was unsure of confirmation. Read about that here. And here.
Besides, even if Sotto’s committee approved his nomination for plenary deliberations by the entire CA, there is no telling what Robredo’s uncle, Congressman Luis Robredo Villafuerte, might have done. Any CA member can cast a “Section 20” vote during the plenary for any reason whatsoever – such as “I don’t like your face” – and that would stop the confirmation cold. At least on that day. Uncle and nephew had a falling out a long, long time ago.
In any case, I believe the CA should come clean with the public and just admit that they kept bypassing Robredo, not because of incomplete paper requirements or their lack of time, but because of POLITICS.
Robredo’s confirmation was stuck for one year inside Senator Vicente Sotto’s committee. Sotto recently said that Robredo’s paper requirements were only completed last November 2011. He told the Philippine Daily Inquirer:
It’s not difficult to have him confirmed. It was just a matter of time. It was just a matter of timing.
Sotto also told Inquirer that in fact, Robredo was scheduled to be confirmed by his committee “by lunchtime of August 29” and by the CA body the same day.
Then Sotto passed the buck of non-confirmation to fellow CA member Congressman Villafuerte. You can read more about what Sotto said here.
Yesterday, I heard Villafuerte on DZMM radio passing the buck to certain individuals who had filed graft charges against Robredo before the Office of the Ombudsman.
Again, I only have one question to ask the CA: WHAT ABOUT SONIA BRADY?
A CA confirmation is like a hazing
CA chairmen-members: Senators Vicente Sotto III, Miriam Santiago, Loren Legarda, Ralph Recto, Sergio Osmena III, Panfilo Lacson, Francis Escudero and Jinggoy Estrada
Why couldn’t Jesse Robredo get the Sonia Brady treatment?
There are two other possible reasons why not.
First, being confirmed by the CA is like undergoing hazing. Second, confirmation is part of political horse-trading and power play.
The reality is that lawmaker-members of the CA were holding hostage the confirmation not only of Robredo but also of Environment Secretary Ramon Paje, Justice Secretary Leila de Lima, Tourism Secretary Ramon Jimenez Jr and Social Welfare Secretary Corazon Soliman as a way of extracting concessions from the Executive Department. And also showing who’s boss.
Don’t be shy about admitting this, Sirs. This is how you play politics.
Recently, Senator Miriam Santiago praised Robredo in her Facebook account.
She also said of Robredo in an interview:
And I was very proud when he became a Cabinet member, although he was not bombastic—that was his way. This is ineffable. It is beyond words. It’s a loss.
Really, now. I did not hear her say this when Robredo was alive and needed confirming by the CA., of which she is a senior member. Did she lobby for him?
If there’s anyone in the entire CA who should know how the CA bullies presidential appointees, it is Senator Miriam Santiago.
I remember the first time I saw Miriam Santiago up close was during her confirmation hearing – or should I say her NON-CONFIRMATION hearings at the CA for the post of Agrarian Reform Secretary in President Corazon Aquino’s cabinet.
Miriam Santiago was wildly popular then, coming from her stint as the Immigration Commissioner who ate death threats for breakfast. The CA members tried to break her.
She fought back by bringing a book with her to the CA hearing and reading this in front of CA members and of TV cameras. I don’t recall now what the exact title of the book was, but it was on philosophy dealing with time and infinity.
Later while interviewing one of her University of the Philippines law school students, I learned that Professor Miriam had vented her anger and frustration in her UP class. My source – now a senior level official in an independent government commission – told me that Prof. Santiago had regaled her class with anecdotes about the lawmakers who were giving her such a hard time. Santiago once told them:
This senator in the Commission who opposes me is now being referred to as the third lady in the Senate, the one having an affair with a driver.
[NOTE: I extracted this quotation from a profile I wrote on Santiago for Philippine Star on May 7, 1992.]
I don’t recall Senator Santiago ever being confirmed by the CA as agrarian reform secretary. She was in that post only from July 1, 1989 to December 23, 1989. But I know she was bypassed by the CA on October 16, 1989 because I had written about it and I still have the news clipping below. Santiago was reappointed by Cory Aquino but she resigned before end-’89.
It’s quite interesting that to this day, the CA holds office in a building totally separate from the rest of the Senate. This is meant to discourage the media from covering the CA too much.
CA House members L to R – Luis Villafuerte, Pedro Romualdo, Rodante Marcoleta, Erineo Maliksi, Rex Gatchalian, Antonio A. Del Rosario, Eduardo Gullas, Antonio C. Alvarez
The CA is like a totally separate kingdom from Congress. Its 25 members are among the most powerful. Their criteria for confirming this or that government official is not based on the appointees’ professional qualifications or talents but on external things such as their perception of him or as a result of lobbying by a fellow CA member. For instance, Corazon Aquino’s transport secretary Reinerio Reyes had a hard time getting confirmed because CA members thought him “too arrogant”.
Senator Santiago was also found to be too arrogant by the CA but they concocted another reason to block her – she was not qualified for the job.
In another instance, Magdara Dimaampao bagged a seat in the Commission on Elections over a more qualified candidate because Senator Mamintal Tamano then lobbied his CA collagues saying – “pagbigyan mo na ko.”
Which is why it is highly likely that Congressman Villafuerte was able to freeze Robredo’s appointment for so long for a similar reason.
The implication behind the plea is that when their turn came, their gesture would not be forgotten.
In short, the paramount considerations for a nominee obtaining confirmation from the CA are not competence and character but meekness and patronage.
The CA treats nominees arbitrarily. They may be kinder to one and rude to another. For instance, they were very kind to Sonia Brady but not to De Lima or Robredo or Paje or Soliman.
I remember how they once exuded so much kindness and consideration towards a general but not to an envoy. I’m referring to how they grilled then Defense Secretary Fidel Ramos behind closed doors in order to ask the delicate question about his rumored mistress and child by her (which Ramos denied). But in the case of Ambassador Rodolfo Severino, CA members grilled him in open session about the intimate details of his love life.
What the CA did to Robredo it has long been doing to other presidential nominees. The only way to honor Robredo posthumously is to treat men and women like him who come before the CA in much better fashion.
I’m not questioning the power of the CA to do what it pleases. But I would like to ask the CA members to consider that perhaps they are frightening away good men and women who could otherwise do good for the nation from joining government service. That’s all.
And I would like to ask my fellow journos to please keep a jaundiced eye on the CA and its oftentimes arbitrary vetting process.
Rene-Ipil says
Dear CA . . .
Maybe Pnoy committed the mistake early in his presidency of putting Jessie
Robredo merely as acting secretary of DILG. May be it was not a mistake at all. May be it was deliberately done with the participation of the principals concerned to parry the Binay juggernaut on the DILG position.
My point is that let us stop speculating on the reasons why Pnoy have been giving so much importance on Jessie Robredo. One thing sure is that Jessie Robredo and his family deserve all the support extended by the government. So that Pnoy’s feeling of guilt, if any, is irrelevant, immaterial and impertinent. And such speculation on Pnoy’s motives is unwarranted being merely a product of fertile and polluted mind.
imec says
ü. just thinking outloud of recent event- Sec. Jesse’s family refused a Libingan ng mga Bayani burial ground for him- even if most Filipino knew that he has every reason to be buried there; whereas the marcos’s kept on insisting that the dictator must be buried there. Indeed, the Gospel for today holds true – “those who exalts themselves must be humbled; and those he who humbles himself must be exalted.”
duquemarino says
@CPMers
If Secretary Jess Robredo is considered as the icon of good governance and people’s participation I sincerely believe that Chief Justice Lourdes Sereno will be the personification of Lady Justice in our judicial system.
raissa says
A commenter – who goes by the various names “Kris”, “Karl” , Oscar and Arco with the same e-mail address [email protected] and IP address 203.177.16.165 – has been banned for posting sub-literate comments and curses which do not contribute anything to the discussion.
Leona says
Thanks…the person must have orig from hell!
cebuano says
Another worthy individual blocked by the CA is HEIDE MENDOZA of the COA. Obviously this is the handiwork of a dark man with dark conciense who was a former mayor of Makati.
Leona says
If you correctly said “blocked” then she will never be confirmed.
What would be a good way of “forcing the issue” by the Executive Dept. to the CA, act or reject the appointee(s)?
The catch call is “thirty SESSION DAYS of the Congress from their submission.” SEC. 18 ART. VI Const. So, CA “stops” the Clock!
net says
ma’am rai,
is this true? heidi mendoza is blocked by ca? please enlighten us so the people will know and heidi will succeed. i don’t like it that sec jesse’s virtues were only known wide open in his death. so many don’t know him during his lifetime and here we are suffering from the ignorance and arrogance of the likes of tito sotto, that arrogant chief of staff of his, topacio and arroyo’s ilk. i’m sorry if this sounds very demanding, i just believe that by espousing their virtues, perhaps more people like them will join government service and continue his legacy and eventually, defeating the selfishness of so many of arroyo and binay’s ilk. with the people behind and beside them, these vultures won’t have an easy way of fooling us. thank you in advance.
Victin Luz says
@cebuano… But she can be reappointed over an over again by PINOY if he thinks that Heidi is really and badly needed in his Governmen, ISNTit. Paasaran nalang diba kung nambwibwisit itong mga commission on appointments members by bypassing her appointment always without valid grounds.
HUNGKAG says
Matino at Mahusay(Character and Competence). Yan ang mantra ni Sec Jesse. At ang kamangha mangha dahil ito ay naisabuhay nya. Napakabigat na gawain para kaninumang tao at si Sec Jessie lang ang taong nakita at nabasa ko na nakagawa ng ganito. Si Sec Jessie ay di alintana ang marumi at madayang pulitika. Ang kaibahan nya ay tinanggap nya ito na hamon. Kung marami sa mga middle class leaders ay nagsawa at tumakas na, si Sec Jessie ay pilit na nilalanguy ang mabagsik na dagat ng kawalang pag asa ng mga pilipino at sa kanyang marami at mapanlikhang paraan ay nasimulan nyang pukawin ang mga diwa nating lahat sa matino at mahusay na pamumuno. Marami sa atin ay umiiyak, nagagalit at nawawalan ng pag asa at gusto nating makatulong na ito ay mabago lalo na ng makahulagpos tayo sa gapos noong martial law. Marami ang tumanggap ng hamon pero marami sa ating namuno at namumuno hanggang ngayon ay hindi maiangat ang pananaw para maglingkod ng matino at mahusay. Kung mayron ngayong Sec Jessie, hindi ako nawawalan ng pag asa na mayroon pa rin diyan na lalantad para sa mation at mahusay na pamumuno. Ito ang pamana ni Sec Jessie sa atin, ang huwag tayong pumili ng mga pinuno na hindi mahusay at matino dahil ito ang napakatibay na pundasyon para sa daang matuwid.
Danny G says
“Matino at Mahusay” kasama ng imahe ni Sec Jesse – palagay ko pwedeng pwedeng gamiting slogan ito para i-remind ang mga botante sa mga susunod na eleksyon. Nawa’y marami pang susunod na mga lider na magiging katulad nya.
Elena says
Was the delay in the confirmation because the President didn’t like Sec Robredo? It was common knowledge that the Pres wasn’t keen on making him the DILG Sec. And because he’s feeling the guilt, the Pres HAD to head the rescue efforts in Masbate he didn’t have to do that) and honor Sec Robredo with a funeral meant for a head of state? Just wondering. If ever Sec Robredo is confirmed posthumously, it will be more for the CA members glorification of themselves than anything else.
On a separate note re Sen Sotto, I think he really is so incompetent in matters of the law. On the RH Bill, if he really believed that his son died because of the pill, 37 years ago, WHY didn’t he become a staunch advocate and warned all women that were taking the pills that they could lose a child because of this. I might be wrong, but has anybody heard of him advocate this particular cause before his speech in the congress? I sympathize with their loss but I question his timing and non-action on sharing the “deadly effects” of the pill for 37 years. How so arrogant naman this senator who up to now have not apologized to the “blogger lang naman”.
raissa says
Perhaps he IS feeling the guilt.
Rolly says
Elena says:
Was the delay in the confirmation because the President didn’t like Sec Robredo?
We may speculate as such, if the ones who keep blocking his confirmation were traditional allies of the President.
Also, Elena says:
It was common knowledge that the Pres wasn’t keen on making him the DILG Sec.
Sorry, but I didn’t know that common knowledge. Jesse has been at that Post from the start…then 2 years later, we say that Noynoy is not keen making him the DILG Secretary?
That’s beggar belief I would say.
Elena says:
And because he’s feeling the guilt, the Pres HAD to head the rescue efforts in Masbate he didn’t have to do that) and honor Sec Robredo with a funeral meant for a head of state?
If I did nothing, i’m damned…if I did something I’m damned.
Please let me know what you want me to do.
baycas says
You’re right, @Rolly…
as @manuelbuencamino said,
http://www.propinoy.net/2012/08/24/where-is-the-decency/
Rene-Ipil says
Dear CA . . .
Maybe Pnoy committed the mistake early in his presidency of putting Jessie
Robredo merely as acting secretary of DILG. Maybe it was not a mistake at all. Maybe it was deliberately done with the participation of the principals concerned to parry the Binay juggernaut on the DILG position.
My point is that let us stop speculating on the reasons why Pnoy have been giving so much importance on Jessie Robredo. One thing sure is that Jessie Robredo and his family deserve all the support extended by the government. So that Pnoy’s feeling of guilt, if any, is irrelevant, immaterial and impertinent. And such speculation on Pnoy’s motives is unwarranted being merely a product of fertile and polluted mind.
aurora abad-thorne says
THANKS, RENE. I TRULY AM SUPPORTING PNOY’S EVERY EFFORT TO ADVOCATE TUWID NA DAAN. ENOUGH OF THE NEGATIVITY AND UNFOUNDED CRITICISMS. KUNG MALI, MALI AND STOP MAKING EXCUSES FOR THESE GOOD-FOR-NOTHING TRAPOS, GOVERNMENT OFFICIALS AND WORKERS! PENALIZE AND PUNISH THEM IF NEEDS BE.
leona says
Could it have been the other way around….that Sec. Robredo did not want the Post but PNoy insisted? Thus, both of them having second thoughts about the whole thing? This is just exploring all the possibilities. Maybe, someone can ask the wife of the Secretary on this…much later on after things quiet down. I am sure she and her husband discussed the matter before Sec. Robredo made a reluctant “temp” acceptance of it.
ding says
It should be obvious to most people at this time that our system is corrupt and morally bankrupt. The Commission on Appointments (CA), despite its Constitutional mandate, has become a political playground to those who play “God,” notwithstanding the competence of a candidate who was appointed by the President.
In a shameless display of their moral bankruptcy, members of the CA, led by the great plagiarist Sen. Tito Sotto, are now riding on the crest of Sec. Jesse Robredo’s popularity who was by-passed thrice for reasons only known to them.
Perhaps, the good Interior Secretary is not used to lobbying in this country which entails certain amount of money or favors that would compromise the Department in his tenure. It is worth remembering that our country is governed by patronage politics masquerading as democracy.
The Senate is not anymore the august chamber we used to think of, but an arena of honorable barbarians who decide which among the gladiators could enter the palace by the Pasig River.
Rallie Florencio says
Totally agree with you sir Ding.
Leona says
@ding…it has been most obvious for a long time already! Out politicians play politics too excessively! They think there is no end to their actions. Only to realize every now and then that “death” suddenly comes along the way for everyone!
Annie says
Shame on CA members! But these people are shameless lot! A person being recognized for exemplary public service, yet they are power-blinded not to see? Raissa, you are very right. You are a gift to us coz you tackle things for the truth & enlightenment! More power…
Gigi Hall says
All I can say is #%@&#!!!!
You’re so right — the fact that Sec Jesse was still talking to CA members and his wife even mentioned doing a novena for the CA confirmation means things were still up in the air. thanks for publishing their names.
duquemarino says
@CPMers
Speaking of Ambassador Brady, she suffered a stroke today at Beijing.
Here is a part of the article by Ellen Tordesillas, Vera Files (August 24, 2012, 7:25 p.m.)
Philippine Ambassador to China Sonia Brady suffered a stroke in Beijing on Friday.
“Amb. Brady suffered a stroke and is hospitalized where her condition is being monitored closely,” Foreign Secretary Albert del Rosario confirmed Brady’s condition in a text message to VERA Files.
Brady, who turned 71 on Wednesday, had just recovered from a mild stroke when she was named ambassador to China last May at the height of the standoff between Philippine and China maritime vessels in Panatag shoal.
jack says
Wait a minute! The CA failed to recognize that health is a big factor in performing a highly stressful job. Absurd, eh?
Leona says
I pity Amb. Brady. At 71 years, still desiring to serve? I hope she gets well soon.
70 years is age to retire for judicial judges/justices. And 65 years for others in the Exec Dept. (with exceptions).
I therefore wish more that younger candidates for public service be made in government.
Leona says
Isn’t it true that Amb. Brady had a previous heart stroke in the past also? I got this info from someone. True? Why then give her that Post for someone with that unstable physical history?
TOL says
OUT OF TOPIC…Sereno is the new Chief Justice.
Rolly says
MANILA, Philippines (UPDATE 4) – President Aquino on Friday appointed Associate Justice Maria Lourdes Punzalan Aranal-Sereno as the 24th Chief Justice of the Supreme Court.
“In the midst of this period of deep mourning for the loss of Interior and Local Government Secretary Jesse Robredo, the President is cognizant of his constitutional duty to appoint the next Chief Justice of the Philippines. He has therefore decided to appoint Associate Justice Maria Lourdes Punzalan Aranal-Sereno as the 24th Chief Justice of the Supreme Court,” a statement from Malacañan read.
abs-cbnnewsDOTcom/nation/08/24/12/sereno-new-chief-justice
Leona says
IN TOPIC…are you happy with that…she is CJ of our SC?…just curious u know
jorge bernas says
@ TOL,
CONGRATULATION CHIEF JUSTICE MARIA LOURDEZ SERENO. SANA GABAYAN KAYO NANG PUONG MAYKAPAL SA INYONG BAGONG PANUNUNGKULAN SA SUPREME COURT AT SANA MABAGO MO ANG KATIWALIAN NANGYAYARI DIYAN. SALAMAT AT SANA ALISIN ANG MGA TUTA AT KURAPT NA NANDIYAN…SALAMAT..
Hummer says
Red Tape?
baka may mga list of favor sila na tinanggihan ni Robredo :)
Free Bird says
According to Apo Enrile, Commission on Appointments (CA) is not that really important? Bakit may CA pa? Kindly explain anyone.. ako ay nhalhilhitwo!!
Q: Sir, ‘yung next hearing ba ng CA, hindi ba pwedeng ituloy ‘yung confirmation at least for the record that he was confirmed by the CA?
SP: Whether he was confirmed or not, it makes no difference. He had a valid appointment as Secretary. He will be a Secretary of Interior and Local Government in the political history of this country. Confirmation or no confirmation.
Q: So walang bearing sir kahit na sasabihin sa mga background sa kanya na he has not been confirmed at all by the CA?
SP: That has no bearing. Every signature he made before his death are all valid except if they’re illegal or unconstitutional.
Leona says
Valid until pronounced otherwise by a court…
mariatiu89 says
I was just reflecting on your blog and made me think of several events that may have delayed the process in appointing him.
Timeline:
1. Sec. Robredo was appointed on July 2010 – the CA was ready to appoint him but were waiting papers from the Palace.
2. Middle of 2011 – the palace submitted papers on his appointment
3. Late november 2011 – Sec Robredo completed the papers being required by the CA
4. there was the impeachment trial and other holidays like Christmas and lenten season that further deterred the members of the CA to meet
5. Aug. 15 – His appointment was about to be tackled, but was moved to accomodate necrological services of Rep. Escudero.
6. Aug. 22 – a confirmation hearing was scheduled but Sec. Robredo was not available on said date, so it was moved to Aug. 29
These events show that we should not be quick with our judgments. Let us try to weigh things and see all angles. I don’t work for the CA, nor voted for the appointees there. I am a concerned citizen who choose to be PRO-ACTIVE in issues concerning our nation. It is easy to point fingers to politicians who are perceived to be doing wrong. It is quite unfair to blame people (ex. Sotto or other CA members) without us knowing what had transpired in their offices. I find it quite demoralizing when people are quick to conclusions.
raissa says
As I said – Sonia Brady. Five days only.
eric says
BREAKING NEWS: Ambassador Sonia Brady was rushed to a hospital in China. She had a stroke.
jack says
That is right. Confirming a cabinet member should not take that long, unless there is a logical reason. Only Secy Robredo knows. Wish he kept a journal.
Leona says
@mariatiu89…I like you…medyo may punto ka…kaya lang…FORGET CONFIRMING si Sec. Robredo because the Constitutional provision says “to confirm” only living and breathing appointees…not dead birds! It will be a gross violation to confirm someone who is gone into another world! So, CA members’ trying to “hurry up” a long delayed act just to make a useless act of confirming, I surely will blame ’em. . .omission of disappointments!
jorge bernas says
@ Leona,
Tama ka at dahil huli na, aanhin pa ang damu kong patay na ang kabayo. ang dami pa nilang kasinungalingang sinasabi bakit hindi nalang aminin nang taga C.A. commission on appointment na nagpabaya sila at naghihintay nang SUHOL/LAGAY.
Kong ang sakitin at hindi qualipikado ay hindi puwede iappoint diba mga C.A. (corrupt agency)
ding says
“It is quite unfair to blame people (ex. Sotto or other CA members) without us knowing what had transpired in their offices.”
This is the problem here, lack of transparency that’s why people are quick to conclude of mischiefs. If they are only honest enough to be transparent to the whole nation, there won’t be any blame game. By the way, lack of transparency begets corruption.
You should be demoralized on public officials like Sotto and other CA members who are not being honest to the Filipino people that until now they keep on passing the buck as to why they didn’t act on the honorable Sec. Jesse Robredo’s appointment.
Paul says
If there’s a will, there surely is a way…