Duterte News: Ang tao sa likod ng pag-papaalis ni Sec Gina Lopez tukoy na May 15 2017
MANILA, Philippines - Less than an hour before the Commission on Appointments (CA) convened in plenary, individual lawmakers were still unsure about the final vote on the case of controversial Environment Secretary Gina Lopez.
In the end, the 25-member CA rejected her appointment, citing her being unfit for the post.
Sen. Manny Pacquiao, chairman of the CA committee on environment that scrutinized Lopez’s appointment, recommended to the plenary the termination of deliberations after the body met the minimum 13 votes cast in secret balloting to decide on her case.
“With sadness in my heart, this committee, through this plenary, is terminating its deliberation on Gina Lopez’s appointment. Not in the way I personally wanted to, but by the decision of the majority, which I am sorry, but we must all respect,” Pacquiao said.
He described the CA deliberations on Lopez’s appointment that began last March as “perhaps the longest, most dramatic and most watched by all Filipinos from all walks of life, both rich and the poor.”
Senators said the vote was 16-8 with most of those rejecting Lopez’s appointment coming from the 12-member contingent from the House of Representatives.
