MANILA— The Commission on Appointments (CA) on Wednesday deferred the confirmation of Leopoldo Valderosa Jr. as chief of the Civil Service Commission (CSC) due to lack of time for further questioning.
Senator Cynthia Villar, chair of the CA panel, suspended the hearing on the motion of Senator Vicente Sotto III for lack of material time and to hear the next nominee scheduled at 11 a.m.
Leopoldo’s confirmation hearing was scheduled at 10 a.m. The next official scheduled to face the CA was Environment Secretary Roy Cimatu.
Villar said that the next confirmation hearing is tentatively scheduled on October 4.
Meanwhile, Villar asked Valderosa to resolve with finality the issue of former natural born-Filipino citizens who have become foreign citizens and eventually reacquired Filipino citizenship.
“Can they join government service? Do they need to renounce their foreign citizenship first? Can they join government service without renouncing foreign citizenship under any circumstances?” Villar provided these questions to Valderosa.
During Valderosa’s confirmation hearing, CA members questioned him about several topics including the function of the CSC, security of tenure, and the implementing rules and regulations (IRR) in filing statement of assets, liability, and net worth (SALNs).
Valderosa explained his role in coming up with policies for the commission and for the entire bureaucracy, as well as the commission’s major functions which are to conduct civil service examination and process appointments.
Manila 6th District Rep. Rosenda Ann Ocampo, meanwhile, questioned Valderosa about the efforts of the commission to address government personnel who were no longer performing but are protected by the security of tenure.
Valderosa said there are present rules that rate government personnel based on their performance.
“Pwede ka matanggal sa trabaho if you are performing below standards (You can be fired if you are performing below standards),” Valderosa said, noting that there is also an option for them to retire if they are no longer performing.
Ocampo also asked Valderosa to be more proactive in assuring that there will be more positions available for a younger workforce.
Sotto, meanwhile, asked him to elaborate the Commission’s implementing rules and regulations (IRR) on the filing of SALN forms.
Valderosa assured him that the Commission will come out with a revised IRR and discuss the matter with members of a technical working group.