(GMA NEWS) Bienvenido Tejano would need to be reappointed if his nomination as Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to Papua New Guinea, with concurrent jurisdiction over the Republic of Kiribati and Solomon Islands will not be confirmed by the Commission on Appointments next week, Senator Jinggoy Estrada said.
“We will give him a last chance on Wednesday next week or if i-cancel the hearing on Wednesday next week, maybe he has to be reappointed by the president,” Estrada said in an online interview.
“He is considered bypassed by the commission and he has to be reappointed if the president wants him to be reappointed,” he added.
The CA panel deferred the hearing on Tejano’s nomination twice due to accusations that were sensitive in nature.
During the first CA panel hearing on Tejano’s appointment, reports of sexual assault were raised against the envoy. The appointee, however, said the allegations were untrue.
“There are a lot of opinions coming from different members of the commission, majority of them [don’t] believe in the accusation lodged against the ambassador and some, a few believe in it,” Estrada said.
Estrada expressed empathy to Tejano, implying that the accusations against the envoy are not credible.
“There is only one common denomination do’n sa mga reklamo sa kanya. So talagang for my part, on my part, it was really unbelievable. Kaya kawawa naman ‘yung tao,” Estrada said when asked why the CA panel did not reject Tejano’s appointment outright.
He further mentioned that the cases filed in the Philippines and Papua New Guinea against Tejano were already dismissed by the courts.
Under the Constitution, the nominees should be given the CA’s consent first then the President issues the appointment. The nominee can take his oath after he accepts the nomination. —VAL, GMA Integrated News