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Cabinet appointees await Senate nod
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Posted on Dec 16 1998
The Senate is set to confirm the nominations of Frank B. Villanueva and John B. Cepeda to their respective Cabinet posts and 10 other appointments made by the governor last week in yet another swift process that has marked this administration since day one.
Sen. David M. Cing, chair of the Senate committee on Executive Appointments and Governmental Investigations, underscored the need for the new appointees to adhere to the current austerity policy in light of the drop in the revenue collections.
“We should be all aware of our expenditures and use of the available resources rather than running for help from the legislature for additional budget,” he told a confirmation hearing yesterday.
Villanueva and Cepeda were the last two appointments made by Gov. Pedro P. Tenorio to complete his Cabinet after almost a year in office.
Cepeda has been the acting secretary of the Department of Public Works since the local chief executive assumed office last January. Villanueva, on the other hand, is a certified public accountant who was a surprised nominee as Commerce secretary despite a pool of qualified people in the department.
Prior to his nomination, he was an accountant for the Micronesian Telecommunications Corporation where he is responsible for the $100 million capital investments of the island’s lone phone company.
According to Cing, Villanueva has won the confidence of the EAGI committee and members expressed relief over his appointment which came after nearly 10-month search.
“We have to give them our confidence vote but if they do not perform well in their job, we will come in again with the oversight investigation,” the senator told in an interview after the hearing.
Aside from the two Cabinet positions, the EAGI also heard the nominations of other officials to various government boards and agencies.
Almost all of the governor’s appointees have been overwhelmingly approved by the nine-member Senate except acting Attorney General Maya B. Kara whose nomination had been bypassed twice by the body due to allegations of conflict of interest.
Although withdrawn by Tenorio, Kara’s appointment may be decided by the Senate to force the local chief executive to replace his AG nominee.
