The Commission of Appointments rejected on Wednesday the nomination of Perfecto Yasay Jr. as Secretary of Foreign Affairs — the first appointee of President Rodrigo Duterte to have met such a decision.
Amid lingering questions about his citizenship, the members of the commission questioned Yasay’s eligibility following reports he was a U.S. citizen in possession of a U.S. passport.
Yasay earlier denied legally applying for a U.S. citizenship.
It was Senator Panfilo Lacson, as chairman of the CA’s committee on foreign affairs, who moved to reject Yasay’s appointment.
“After careful deliberations of the foregoing circumstances, and upon a unanimous vote of 15 of its members present in a caucus held this morning, this representation as chair of the foreign affairs, hereby, moves to reject the ad interim appointment of Atty. Perfecto Rivas Yasay Jr. as Secretary of Foreign Affairs. I so move,” Lacson said.
No CA member objected to the motion.
During the committee hearing, Yasay apologized said it wasn’t his intention give false information.
“Let me quickly apologize for having inadvertently misled the commission on this matter. It has never been my intention to deceive this commission about this citizenship status. Simply put, I did not lose my status as a Filipino,” Yasay said.
Yasay was also quoted as saying in a TV interview that he used to have a U.S. passport but he returned it — fueling speculation that Yasay lied all along about his alleged U.S. citizenship.
“When I denied being issued a U.S. passport before this commission, I had particularly in mind the allegation made by Rappler that I was issued one in 2006 which I can continue to deny for lack of personal knowledge,” Yasay told the committee.
CA Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Panfilo Lacson said Yasay is expected to immediately vacate his post.
He added it is up to President Duterte if he wants to appoint Yasay to another position.
Another CA committee tackled the nomination of Environment Secretary Gina Lopez. But after more than two hours, the committee suspended proceedings because of a number of opposition. The confirmation hearing will resume tomorrow morning.
