Jauhn Etienne Villaruel

Senator Imee Marcos at the Senate committee on foreign relations hearing on the locations of EDCA (Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement) sites on April 19, 2023. Mark Demayo ABS-CBN News

Article (news)

SENATE-HEARING

Victoria Tulad

ABS-CBN News

<div><span class="fr-img-caption fr-fic fr-dib" style="width:960px;display:block" width="960"><span class="fr-img-wrap"><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/177373528699420230419-edca-senate-hearing-MD-7731.jpg" style="width:960px" class="fr-fic fr-dib" width="960"/><span class="fr-inner" style="text-align:left">Imee Marcos at the Senate committee on foreign relations hearing on the locations of EDCA (Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement) sites on April 19, 2023. Mark Demayo ABS-CBN News</span></span></span></div><div><br/></div><p>MANILA — An “emerging modus operandi” was how Senator Imee Marcos described the supposed “rampant practice” of appointing acting Cabinet Secretaries, which allegedly strips the Commission on Appointments (CA) of its mandate to give or withhold consent to appointments.</p><div><a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/lifestyle/people-culture-events/2025/11/8/gina-lopez-s-passionate-anti-mining-protest-goes-viral-again-1018">Gina Lopez’s passionate anti-mining protest goes viral again</a></div><p>During Tuesday’s CA plenary session, Marcos named members of the Cabinet who remain unconfirmed:</p><div><br/></div><p>• Acting Executive Secretary Ralph Recto</p><p>• Acting Presidential Communications Office Secretary Dave Gomez</p><p>• Acting Public Works Secretary Vince Dizon</p><p>• Acting Transportation Secretary Giovanni Lopez</p><p>• Acting Justice Secretary Fredderick Vida</p><p>• Acting Finance Secretary Frederick Go</p><p>• Acting Budget Secretary Rolando Toledo </p><p>• Acting Secretary of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources Juan Miguel Cuna</p><div><br/></div><p>“What we are witnessing is no longer the occasional temporary designation made out of necessity, out of urgency; what we are instead witnessing is the normalization of acting appointments as a governing strategy. A deliberate method, perhaps, of bypassing the Commission on Appointments and diluting our sacrosanct constitutional role,” Marcos said in her manifestation.</p><div><a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/video/news/05/03/17/watch-after-ca-rejection-gina-lopez-sings-i-believe-i-can-fly">WATCH: After CA rejection, Gina Lopez sings &#x27;I Believe I Can Fly&#x27;</a></div><p>“When more than 40 percent, almost half of the Cabinet is serving in an acting capacity, this can no longer be dismissed as incidental, transitional, or even harmless. This is no longer a band-aid stop-gap arrangement. This appears to be an emerging modus operandi,” she remarked.</p><p>Marcos said the following appointments should also go through the CA:</p><div> </div><p>• Bases Conversion and Development Authority (BCDA) Director Robert Flores</p><p>• Acting BCDA Director Jose Taruc V</p><p>• BCA Board Director Faustino Galang</p><p>• Acting Philippine Space Agency Director General Gay Jane Perez</p><div><br/></div><p>“It is true that the Supreme Court in Pimentel Jr. vs. Arroyo recognized the appointments in an acting capacity and the President&#x27;s power to make them. But the court was equally clear in warning that acting appointments, while permissible as temporary stop-gap measures, if abused, can also be a way of circumventing the need for confirmation by the Commission on Appointments,” Marcos said.</p><p>She noted that temporary designations should not extend indefinitely, but should only be from six months to a year.</p><div><br/></div><div><strong>CA CANNOT BE BYPASSED—MARCOLETA</strong></div><div><br/></div><p>Senator Rodante Marcoleta agreed with Marcos and asserted that the CA cannot be bypassed.</p><p>“It is an independent body,” Marcoleta said. </p><p>“The President can appoint and designate members of his Cabinet, but the Commission on Appointments has the obligation to evaluate, to assess their competence, their fitness, their merit.”</p><p>CA Minority Floor Leader Senator Joel Villanueva said the issue should be looked into seriously, noting that the Constitution explicitly requires CA confirmation for cabinet secretaries.</p><p>“It is a structural check and balance mechanism,” Villanueva mentioned. </p><p>“There is risk, Mr. President, I would say, of executive overreach if acting designation are used to bypass confirmation.”</p><p>Senate President Vicente “Tito” Sotto III agreed with some of the points raised.</p><p>“All the cabinet members that you mentioned, yes, we await their nomination here in the Commission on Appointments,” Sotto told Marcos.</p><div><a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/business/2026/3/9/dot-bcda-join-forces-to-boost-sports-tourism-1558">DOT, BCDA join forces to boost sports tourism</a></div><p>“We will take it up. I&#x27;m sure the Commission will be able to ask the executive department on this matter.”</p><p>Sotto clarified, however, that the BCDA officials do not need to go through CA confirmation.</p><p>“As far as the BCDA is concerned, there is a previous Supreme Court decision on that matter of the Constitution wherein only cabinet rank secretaries should pass through the Commission on Appointments,” Sotto said.  </p><p>Despite this, Sotto said he will ask the chairman of the Committee on Rules to look into the concern.</p><div><br/></div><div><strong>RELATED VIDEOS</strong></div><div><strong><br/><span class="fr-video fr-deletable fr-fvc fr-dvb fr-draggable" contenteditable="false" draggable="true"><iframe width="640" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/cUGkYRetKa0?&amp;wmode=opaque&amp;rel=0" frameBorder="0" allowfullscreen="" class="fr-draggable"></iframe></span></strong><span class="fr-video fr-deletable fr-fvc fr-dvb fr-draggable" contenteditable="false" draggable="true"><iframe width="640" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/pEvu9wJ3mfI?&amp;wmode=opaque&amp;rel=0" frameBorder="0" allowfullscreen="" class="fr-draggable"></iframe></span><span class="fr-video fr-deletable fr-fvc fr-dvb fr-draggable" contenteditable="false" draggable="true"><iframe width="640" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/ZN-WckA4mkQ?&amp;wmode=opaque&amp;rel=0" frameBorder="0" allowfullscreen="" class="fr-draggable"></iframe></span><br/></div>

<p>Sen. Imee Marcos noted that temporary designations should not extend indefinitely, but should only be from six months to a year. </p>

Sen. Imee Marcos noted that temporary designations should not extend indefinitely, but should only be from six months to a year.

Emerging modus operandi? Imee flags ‘rampant practice’ of appointing acting Cabinet secretaries

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Emerging modus operandi? Imee flags ‘rampant practice’ of appointing acting Cabinet secretaries

Victoria Tulad,

ABS-CBN News

Published Mar 17, 2026 04:21 PM PHT

Read More:

imee marcos

commission on appointments

CA

cabinet secretary

rodante marcoleta

joel villanueva

tito sotto

politics

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