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By Efren L. Danao, Senior Reporter
Secretary Margarito Teves finally got the
endorsement on Tuesday of the Commission on Appointments’
Committee on Finance almost three years after he assumed the Finance
portfolio.
His appointment to the post by President Gloria
Arroyo had been bypassed a number of times by the confirmation body.
“It was a great relief after going through the
wringer,” Teves said of the action of the committee headed by Sen.
Juan Ponce Enrile.
The confirmation hearing of Teves lasted less
than five minutes, a far cry from the hours of intense grilling,
mainly by Enrile, that he underwent in his previous confirmation
hearings. He will only have to wait for the plenary session of the
Commission on Appointments to formalize his confirmation. No date
has been set for the plenary.
“It was a humbling experience, but it also
enabled me to learn a lot. Senator Enrile and others gave me several
suggestions on how to run the department better,” Teves said.
Most of the former senators and congressmen who
were appointed to the Cabinet had a relatively easy time at the
Commission on Appointments, and Teves said he had initially thought
he would breeze through the confirmation process.
He added that he had never considered resigning
despite his “humbling experience” at the Commission on
Appointments. His father, Herminio Teves, who had succeeded him as
congressman of Negros Oriental, had even asked him to resign after
the commission failed to confirm him.
“I persevered. I never considered quitting.
For this, I have to thank President Arroyo for her continued trust
and confidence in me,” Teves said.
He, however, stressed, that the endorsement of
the commission does not mean that he would not be included in any
Cabinet reshuffle.
“I serve only at the pleasure of the
President. The confirmation process has nothing to do with any
Cabinet revamp,” Teves said.
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