MANILA: After the resignation of Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile last Wednesday, another controversy marred the closing of the 15th Congress at the Senate yesterday over the issue of the term of Senate Secretary Emma Lirio-Reyes.
This after Sen Pia Cayetano opposed the decision of acting Senate President Jinggoy Estrada to terminate the term of Senate Secretary Emma Lirio-Reyes because she reached mandatory retirement last January 30.
Cayetano moved to support Reyes after Estrada upheld the decision of former Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile who resigned Monday owing to frustrations and disappointments over internal politics.
Estrada signed special order 2013-051 (OSP) which calls for the continuing order of officer-in-change and acting secretary. Reyes’ appointment was put in question when she reached the retirement age of 65 for government officials.
“In the exigency of service, the undersigned hereby designates Deputy Secretary for legislation, Atty Edwin Bellen, to continue to act as officer-in-charge for the Office of the Senate secretary, to exercise authority and perform all duties and responsibilities…,” the special order read.
Estrada, in signing the order, also reiterated that Bellen should perform the role from yesterday until the plenary decides to act on the issue of the tenure of Reyes or until the plenary elects a new Senate Secretary.
This prompted Cayetano to bring the issue to plenary where she sought a clarification on the term of the Senate secretary.
Since nobody objected to Cayetano’s motion, expressing the sense of the Senate that Reyes should be retained until the Senate body has designated a new Senate secretary; her motion is deemed approved by the body.
At the same time, Senate majority leader Vicente Sotto III called on the Senate secretary yesterday to investigate why an official email account of the Senate was used as a tool in disinformation against a fellow senator during the last elections.
Sotto made the manifestation during plenary why the official email account of the Senate Public Relations and Information Bureau was used in a disinformation campaign against Sen Gregorio Honasan, who was then seeking re-election.
Sotto refused to believe that the email account was hacked on the eve of election day last May 13. Some reporters covering the Senate received the “fake” email message, supposedly a statement from Honasan that he was withdrawing from the Senate race. Sotto and Honasan decried the black propaganda. Honasan was eventually re-elected, getting the 12th spot.
These issues came following the resignation of Enrile last Wednesday.
Apart from this, the senators also had difficulty in getting the support of at least 16 senators to ratify pertinent international treaties. At 6pm, the body has not yet ratified treaties allowing extradition between the Philippines and the United Kingdom, India and Spain.
The Senate adjourned sine die last night.
The Philippine star
