ON PUBLIC DEFENDER’S APPOINTMENT Reyes to Teno: ‘I’ll back off’

Senate Floor Leader Pete P. Reyes has vowed to shun from expressing his opinion on possible nominees to any public posts and let the administration perform its appointment authority in a demonstration of separation of power in the government.

The move followed the controversy stemming from his earlier statement supporting acting Public Defender Masood Karimipour if Gov. Pedro P. Tenorio submits his name to the Senate for confirmation.

“We were only saying that we are going to support (Karimipour) if he nominates him. If he nominates other people, we will also be supportive of that,” Reyes said in an interview.

“Because of the (governor’s) statement, we will probably not make any comment anymore. We respect the separation of powers, but it’s just disturbing to me when we tell him we will support him, and he turns back,” he added.

Last week, Tenorio brushed aside the statement expressed by Reyes and Senate Vice President Thomas P. Villagomez throwing their support behind Karimipour if his nomination reaches the Senate.

“I never interfere with the Senate or the House for that matter. I never ask them or I never tell them who to hire or what to do. I hope they reciprocate that to the administration,” Tenorio said.

The chief executive has yet to appoint any official to the Public Defender Office since its former chief Harvey Palefsky resigned earlier this year. He said, however, Karimipour is one of the candidates.

While it is entirely up to the governor to choose people to occupy various administration positions, Tenorio has consulted the Senate several times on some of his potential nominees to gauge their chances of getting the approval.

“We have always consistently supported his nominees, but… when it’s a critical position, he wants to know what we feel about his nominee before he submits the nomination and whether or not he has the support of the Legislature,” Reyes explained.

So far, most of Tenorio’s appointees have been confirmed by the Senate, except for acting Attorney General Maya B. Kara whose nomination he withdrew in September last year on the heels of clear Senate rejection.

Although Reyes acknowledged it is the prerogative of the governor who to hire, he took exception to his reaction regarding the latest “expression of support” over one potential government official.

“I am unquestionably the most vocal supporter of the governor and there are other members of the Legislature who are not as supportive as I am,” he said.

The Constitution empowers the Senate to review each nomination made by the governor, although that process has come under close scrutiny in recent months following dispute between senators and administration officials as to which appointment must go through the confirmation.