MANILA: The fate of four Cabinet members, including Justice Secretary Leila de Lima hangs in the balance, as the Commission on Appointments (CA) will finally vote on their appointments in the next two weeks.
Ilocos Norte Representative Rodolfo Farinas, CA majority leader, said that officers of the commission led by Senate President Franklin Drilon and Western Samar Representative Mel Senen Sarmiento have decided to force a vote on the four pending Cabinet appointments.
“We feel that these appointments have been pending for so long that we should now make a decision – approve them or reject them,” he said.
The commission empowered by the Constitution to scrutinise Cabinet appointments and major promotions in the military and diplomatic service is composed of 25 members – 12 senators and 12 congressmen, with Drilon as ex-officio chairman.
Sarmiento, as head of the 12-member contingent from the House of Representatives, is CA vice chairman. The appointments of De Lima and Social Welfare Secretary Corazon Soliman, Environment Secretary Ramon Paje and Energy Secretary Jericho Petilla are still pending with the appropriate CA committees.
Sri Lanka arrests 29 Indian fishermen
COLOMBO: Sri Lanka’s navy said yesterday it had seized 29 Indian fishermen, the first arrests since President Mahinda Rajapakse and India’s new premier held talks on resolving the thorny issue of poaching.
The navy arrested the Indians along with six trawlers off the island’s northwest coast on Sunday, a navy statement said.
“The arrested fishermen and the trawlers were handed over to the officials of the department of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources... for legal action,” it said.
Series of quakes jolt Philippines
MANILA: A series of moderate earthquakes and aftershocks hit the Philippines early yesterday, with US geologists estimating the shallowest — a magnitude-5.1 tremor — at just one kilometre deep, but there were no initial reports of damage.
The first quake struck off the southern island of Mindanao at around 3am local time (1900 GMT), some 30km east-northeast of the city of Cortes, according to the USGS.
Agencies
