{"id":101293,"date":"2017-05-07T21:19:39","date_gmt":"2017-05-08T01:19:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/?p=101293"},"modified":"2017-05-07T21:19:39","modified_gmt":"2017-05-08T01:19:39","slug":"pimentel-urged-to-conduct-probe-on-lobby-money-behind-cas-rejection-of-lopez","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/2017\/05\/07\/pimentel-urged-to-conduct-probe-on-lobby-money-behind-cas-rejection-of-lopez\/","title":{"rendered":"Pimentel urged to conduct probe on ‘lobby money’ behind CA’s rejection of Lopez"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Sato,<\/a>
Sato, who was among those who intensely grilled Lopez during the previous hearings, said there are two major issues Lopez failed to address. (Photo: Gina Lopez\/ Facebook<\/a>)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

MANILA\u2013A member of the powerful Commission on Appointments (CA) has urged Senate President Koko Pimentel to look into the allegations that \u201clobby money\u201d influenced the rejection of Regina Lopez’s appointment as environment secretary.<\/p>\n

In a statement on Sunday, Occidental Mindoro Rep. Josephine Ramirez-Sato urged Pimentel, who is also chairman of the CA, to investigate the \u201clobby money\u201d claim against members of the appointments body and to mete out appropriate actions, \u201cif necessary\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cI believe inaction will be a disservice to our people and to our country,\u201d said Sato.<\/p>\n

Earlier, Senator Panfilo Lacson called for an investigation into allegations that CA members were influenced by financial consideration following President Rodrigo Duterte\u2019s insinuation that Lopez was not confirmed because \u201cmoney talks.\u201d<\/p>\n

The lawmaker said the CA’s mandate is to serve as an effective check to the appointments of the President, and its recent decision not to confirm Lopez demonstrates the \u201cindependence of the current CA.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is a collegial body composed of representatives from the Senate and the House of Representatives who are duty bound to determine the fitness and qualification of cabinet appointees free from undue influence,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cAny allegation that undermines the integrity and independence of the CA must be taken seriously,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n

The CA accorded the ad interim appointment of Lopez four hearing sessions, the most number of hearings given to any Duterte appointee.<\/p>\n

Sato, who was among those who intensely grilled Lopez during the previous hearings, said there are two major issues Lopez failed to address.<\/p>\n

Sato said the feisty Cabinet secretary admitted to issuances that \u201chad no basis in law\u201d.<\/p>\n

Lopez\u2019 issuances include prohibiting mining in all watersheds, \u2018changing\u2019 mining audit standards and imposing additional financial obligations on the mineral ore exports of mining firms \u2013 whether they were suspended or not.<\/p>\n

\u201cHer tendency to use her prerogative over established rules and regulation and ignore due process is an utter disregard for the rule of law and shows a lack of understanding of the function and role of the Executive Department,\u201d Sato said.<\/p>\n

Sato said the second issue is Lopez setting aside civil service rules by hiring 55 \u2018consultants\u2019 and officials, designating unqualified personnel to managerial and supervisory positions and leaving 50 career personnel in floating status.<\/p>\n

\u201cBoth the Civil Service Commission and the Commission on Audit have issued adverse rulings on this matter. The decision of Ms. Lopez to manage the Department in this way has brought on demoralization and undermined professionalism in the DENR bureaucracy,\u201d the solon said.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

MANILA\u2013A member of the powerful Commission on Appointments (CA) has urged Senate President Koko Pimentel to look into the allegations …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":33,"featured_media":101294,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[3675,11745,18803,14868],"class_list":["post-101293","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-uncategorized","tag-court-of-appeals","tag-gina-lopez","tag-lobby-money","tag-senator-koko-pimentel","mauthors-philippine-news-agency"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/101293","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/33"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=101293"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/101293\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/101294"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=101293"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=101293"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=101293"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}