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Senate leader appears lukewarm to Kara suit
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Posted on Mar 04 1999
A Senate decision to bring the controversial appointment of acting Attorney General Maya B. Kara to court appeared to have been snuck right under the nose of Senate President Paul A. Manglona who has hinted of indifference to the move.
In an interview, Manglona said he was made aware of the decision through the media, but refused to categorically say whether he supported the resolution passed by senators last week.
“I know that,” he explained. “It has since passed the Senate so I believe that our legal counsel has to work on the framework of the resolution.”
The resolution, sponsored by Senate Vice President Thomas P. Villagomez, set out the legal avenue to oust Kara from her post after several attempts in the past few months failed.
He has raised possible circumvention of the constitutional provision which allows the Senate to act on all government appointees as well as limit the stay of acting officials to 30 days.
Kept under wraps for the last three weeks prior to its adoption, the resolution was only tackled on the Senate floor when Manglona was away on an official visit to Washington D.C., along with Gov. Pedro P. Tenorio and House Speaker Diego T. Benavente.
But Villagomez maintained the Senate president was informed about the resolution, saying he had expressed his plan to him to press for its adoption before they actually passed it in a session last week.
“That’s our prerogative,” he pointed. “He was aware of the resolution and I told him I was going to push for it.”
It will be the first time that senators are filing a lawsuit over a Cabinet appointee and possibly the first major rift between the local chief executive and his party mates from the Republican-held upper house.
Tenorio has yet to arrive from the U.S. trip and could not be reached for comment on the move which is viewed as a serious challenge to his leadership.
Kara, who has assumed the AG post since her appointment last July in an acting capacity following rejection by the Senate, said last week she would remain in office unless the governor or the Supreme Court removes her.
The Senate legal counsel is expected to file papers with the court in the next few weeks.
