Tagline creator breezes through CA

By Macon Ramos-Araneta | Posted on September 06, 2012 |

The campaign taglines “Big Man sa Senado” and “Kapag corrupt ka, Lagot ka,” which he had crafted for Senator Franklin Drilon and Senator Joker Arroyo for their election campaigns, drove the two members of the bicameral Commission on Appointments to approve the nomination of Tourism Secretary Ramon Jimenez Jr., an official said on Wednesday.

“First, I must make my full disclosure why I am voting for the nominee,” Drilon said before voting to confirm Jimenez.

“He was the one who created my tagline in 2001, ‘Big Man sa Senado,’ but I am not alone.

“You remember the other tagline in that election, ‘Kapag corrupt ka, Lagot Ka?’ That was the tagline he gave to a good friend, Senator Joker Arroyo.’’

“It is on that premise that we are endorsing the nominee, the very competent executive and practitioner in this field,” said Drilon who was seated beside Arroyo in the confirmation hearing at the Senate.

No member of the commission objected to Jimenez’s appointment, and the proceedings lasted only 30 minutes.

But Alagad party-list Rep. Rodante Marcoleta, who is opposed to the Reproductive Health bill that seeks to guarantee universal access to contraception methods, fertility control, sexual education and maternal health care, quizzed Jimenez on his stand on the same bill.

“If I may your honor, I would just answer that the proper response to your question is to cite the very first book in the Bible, which says that when everything started, God created light and then he created the Heaven, the Earth, and then the animals and when he had all of that, it was then and only then that he brought man into the world,” Jimenez said.

“Our Lord was the very first responsible parent in human history. He made sure we had everything.”

Senate Majority Leader Vicente Sotto III, the commission’s vice chairman and who is also opposed to the RH bill, said they should recommend Jimenez for confirmation immediately.

“I was really going to vote in favor of the secretary, but hearing that, we should have approved him two years ago,” Sotto said.

When Marcoleta asked Jimenez to clarify his statement, Jimenez said he was “for responsible parenthood which is another name for…”

Jimenez was not able to finish his statement because Valenzuela Rep. Rex Gatchalian, who heads the commission, cut him off and told them to talk about the matter in private after the confirmation hearing.

In brief statement before the confirmation hearing, Jimenez said he reached his first year at the Tourism Department on Sept. 1.

“I seek, of course, the honorable committee’s approval of my appointment today. I come here with colleagues and friends from the tourism industry,” Jimenez said.

Camarines Sur Rep. Luis Villafuerte was the first to inquire about Jimenez’s program in his department, and Jimenez said he was now employing a cluster strategy.(END)