The Commission on Appointments (, abbreviated as CA) is a constitutional body which confirms or rejects certain political appointments made by the President of the Philippines. The current commission was created by the 1987 Constitution.
While often associated with the Congress of the Philippines, which consists of the House of Representatives and the Senate, and mistakenly referred to as a congressional committee, the Commission on Appointments is an independent body from the legislature, though its membership is confined to members of Congress.</blockquote>
The Vice President is exempted from a confirmation hearing to any cabinet position. The nomination of a person to the vice presidency due to a vacancy is handled by both houses of Congress, voting separately.
During the operation of the Jones Law, the Senate confirmed the Governor-General's appointments. During the operation of the 1935 Constitution, the commission was composed of 21 members of the National Assembly of the Philippines. With the restoration of the bicameral Congress in 1940, the commission was composed of 12 senators and 12 representatives with the Senate President as the ex officio chairman. During the operation of the 1973 Constitution, the president appointed at will and without "checks and balances" from the then-parliament. The current constitution, which was ratified in 1987, brought back the 25-member commission.
Officials confirmed
- Heads of Executive Departments
- Ambassadors, other Public Ministers and Consuls
- High Ranking Officers of the Armed Forces from the rank of Colonel or Naval Captain
- Regular Members of the Judicial and Bar Council
- Chairman and Commissioners of the Civil Service Commission
- Chairman and Commissioners of the Commission on Elections
- Chairman and Commissioners of the Commission on Audit
The appointments of all judges and the Ombudsman need not be confirmed by the Commission on Appointments. Instead, they are recommended by the Judicial and Bar Council in a short list, from which the President shall then choose from.
Prior to the institutionalization of the party-list system, the president appointed the sectoral representatives. Congress then decided to have these confirmed via the commission, as well.
Under the 1935 Constitution
- Heads of the executive departments and bureaus
- Officers of the Army from the rank of colonel, of the Navy and air forces from the rank of captain or commander
- All other officers of the Government whose appointments are not herein otherwise provided for, and those whom he may be authorized by law to appoint
- Ambassadors, other public ministers, and consuls
- Members of the Supreme Court and all judges of inferior courts
- The Resident Commissioner of the Philippines (until 1946)
Composition
thumb|left|Senate President [[Tito Sotto presides over a plenary session of the Commission on Appointments on February 4, 2026.]]
The commission is composed of the Senate President, the ex officio chairman, twelve senators, and twelve members of the House of Representatives. Members from each house of Congress are elected based on proportional representation from the political parties and parties or organizations registered under the party-list system represented. The Chairman of the Commission shall vote only in case of a tie. It shall act on all appointments submitted within thirty session days of Congress. It shall be governed by a majority vote of all members.
Procedure
A president can either make a nomination or an appointment. Either action involves the commission.
Most presidential actions are ad interim appointments, done when Congress is not in session. In these cases, the appointment allows the official to discharge the duties related to the office immediately. The ad interim appointment ceases to be valid if the commission explicitly rejects the appointment, or if the commission "bypasses" the appointment. If the commission rejects the appointment, the official is no longer allowed to discharge the duties related to his or her office, and the president has to appoint someone else. If the commission bypasses the official, the president can re-appoint that person.
The president can also nominate an official if Congress is in session. In a "regular" nomination, the official can only discharge the duties once the commission consents to the appointment.
Just as other legislative bodies, the commission is divided into different committees. Each appointment is coursed through the committee concerned. After hearings are held, the committee decides to confirm or reject the appointment; the commission en banc then deliberates on whether to accept the committee's decision.
Meeting place
The commission meets at the GSIS Building in Pasay, the seat of the Senate.
Current membership
{| class="wikitable sortable sticky-header"
|+
!Position
! colspan="2" |Name
!Chamber
!Constituency
!Party
!Since
|-
|Chairperson
|
|Alan Peter Cayetano
|Senate
|At-large
|Independent
|May 11, 2026
|-
|Vice Chairperson
|
|Ramon Guico Jr.
|House of Representatives
|Pangasinan–5th
|Lakas
|August 26, 2025
|-
|Majority Floor Leader
|
|Jurdin Jesus Romualdo
|House of Representatives
|Camiguin at-large
|Lakas
|August 26, 2025
|-
| rowspan="2" |Assistant Majority<br>Floor Leader
|
|Loren Legarda
|Senate
|At-large
|NPC
|September 24, 2025
|-
|bgcolor="#EEE234" |
|Robert Raymund Estrella
|House of Representatives
|Party-list
|Abono
|December 10, 2025
|-
|Minority Floor Leader
|
|Joel Villanueva
|Senate
|At-large
|Independent
|September 24, 2025
|-
| rowspan="2" |Assistant Minority<br>Floor Leader
|
|Tonypet Albano
|House of Representatives
|Isabela–1st
|PFP
|August 26, 2025
|-
|
|Allan Ty
|House of Representatives
|Party-list
|LPGMA
|August 26, 2025
|-
| rowspan="17" |Member
|
|Benjamin Agarao Jr.
|House of Representatives
|Laguna–4th
|PFP
|August 26, 2025
|-
|
|Jose Aquino II
|House of Representatives
|Butuan at-large
|Lakas
|August 26, 2025
|-
|
|JV Ejercito
|Senate
|At-large
|NPC
|August 26, 2025
|-
|
|Jinggoy Estrada
|Senate
|At-large
|PMP
|August 26, 2025
|-
|
|Arnulf Bryan Fuentebella
|House of Representatives
|Camarines Sur–4th
|NPC
|August 26, 2025
|-
|
|Bong Go
|Senate
|At-large
|PDP
|August 26, 2025
|-
|
|Risa Hontiveros
|Senate
|At-large
|Akbayan
|August 26, 2025
|-
|
|Panfilo Lacson
|Senate
|At-large
|Independent
|September 24, 2025
|-
|
|Lito Lapid
|Senate
|At-large
|NPC
|September 24, 2025
|-
|
|Roy Loyola
|House of Representatives
|Cavite–5th
|NPC
|August 26, 2025
|-
|
|Rodante Marcoleta
|Senate
|At-large
|Independent
|August 26, 2025
|-
|
|Imee Marcos
|Senate
|At-large
|Nacionalista
|August 26, 2025
|-
|
|Lani Mercado
|House of Representatives
|Cavite–2nd
|Lakas
|August 26, 2025
|-
|
|Eddiebong Plaza
|House of Representatives
|Agusan del Sur–2nd
|NUP
|August 26, 2025
|-
|
|Marcelino Teodoro
|House of Representatives
|Marikina–1st
|NUP
|February 25, 2026
|-
|
|Raffy Tulfo
|Senate
|At-large
|Independent
|August 26, 2025
|-
|
|Mark Villar
|Senate
|At-large
|Nacionalista
|August 26, 2025
|}
- Secretary: Myra Marie Villarica
- Sergeant-at-Arms: PMGen. Mao Aplasca (Ret.)
|-
|
|Rodolfo Plaza
|Agusan del Sur at-large
|NPC
|
|-
|
|Mel Senen Sarmiento
|Samar–1st
|Liberal
|2013–2015
|-
|
|Antonio del Rosario
|Capiz–1st
|Liberal
|2015–2016
|-
|
|Ronaldo Zamora
|San Juan at-large
|PDP–Laban
|2016–2022
|-
|
|Ramon Guico Jr.
|Pangasinan–5th
|Lakas
|2022–2025
|}
Rejection of appointment
Rejection by the commission of the president's appointment is very rare. Usually, due to the padrino system of patronage politics, the president's party controls a supermajority of votes in the House of Representatives, thus mirroring its composition of the commission. This means appointments are almost always are approved, although some are not without difficulty.
{| class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders"
|+List of rejection of nominees by the Commission on Appointments
|-
! scope="col"|Person chosen
! scope="col"| Position
! scope="col"| Year
! scope="col"| Chosen by
! scope="col"|
|-
! scope="row" | Mary Concepcion Bautista
|Chairman of the Commission on Human Rights
|1989
|Corazon Aquino
|
|-
! scope="row" | Ramon del Rosario
| Secretary of Finance || 1993 || Fidel V. Ramos ||
|-
!scope="row"| Ricardo Saludo
| Chairman of the Civil Service Commission|| 2009 || Gloria Macapagal Arroyo ||
|-
!scope="row"| Perfecto Yasay
| Secretary of Foreign Affairs || 2017 || rowspan="6" | Rodrigo Duterte ||
|-
!scope="row"| Gina Lopez
| Secretary of Environment and Natural Resources || 2017 ||
|-
!scope="row"| Rafael V. Mariano
| Secretary of Agrarian Reform || 2017 ||
|-
!scope="row"| Judy Taguiwalo
| Secretary of Social Welfare and Development || 2017 ||
|-
!scope="row"| Paulyn Ubial
| Secretary of Health|| 2017 ||
|-
!scope="row"| Michael Peloton
| Commissioner of the Commission on Elections || 2021 ||
|}
In Bautista vs. Salonga, the Supreme Court ruled that the positions within the Commission on Human Rights are not one of the positions confirmed by the Commission on Appointments, invalidating Mary Concepcion Bautista's rejection.
Another way the commission can reject an appointment is by bypassing it; here, the nomination is not acted upon until Congress adjourns its session. The president can still renominate the person for the next session of Congress. If the commission bypasses a nomination and then Congress adjourns sine die, the nomination is lost. There had been proposals to limit bypasses up to three.
Committees
The Commission has several committees:
{| class="wikitable sticky-header" style="font-size:95%;"
|+
!Committee
!Positions considered
! colspan="2" |Chairperson
!Party
! colspan="2" |Vice chairperson
!Party
!Regular members
!Total
|-
| rowspan="7" |Foreign Affairs
| rowspan="7" |
- Secretary of Foreign Affairs
- Ambassadors
- Other public ministers and consuls
| rowspan="7"
| rowspan="7" |Panfilo Lacson
| rowspan="7" |Independent
|
|Lito Lapid
|NPC
| rowspan="7" style="text-align:center;"|9
| rowspan="7" style="text-align:center;"|17
|-
|
|Loren Legarda
|NPC
|-
|
|Imee Marcos
|Nacionalista
|-
|
|Tonypet Albano
|PFP
|-
|
|Jose Aquino II
|Lakas
|-
|
|Lani Mercado
|Lakas
|-
|
|Allan Ty
|LPGMA
|-
| rowspan="7" |National Defense
| rowspan="7" |
- Secretary of National Defense
- Officers of the Armed Forces from the rank of colonel or naval captain and above
| rowspan="7"
| rowspan="7" |Jose Aquino II
| rowspan="7" |Lakas
|
|Bong Go
|PDP
| rowspan="7" style="text-align:center;"|9
| rowspan="7" style="text-align:center;"|17
|-
|
|Panfilo Lacson
|Independent
|-
|
|Raffy Tulfo
|Independent
|-
|
|Mark Villar
|Nacionalista
|-
|
|Benjamin Agarao Jr.
|PFP
|-
|
|Arnulf Bryan Fuentebella
|NPC
|-
|
|Eddiebong Plaza
|NUP
|-
|Finance
|Secretary of Finance
|
|Lito Lapid
|NPC
|
|Allan Ty
|LPGMA
| style="text-align:center;"|15
| style="text-align:center;"|17
|-
|Budget and Management
|Secretary of Budget and Management
|
|Mark Villar
|Nacionalista
|
|Tonypet Albano
|PFP
| style="text-align:center;"|15
| style="text-align:center;"|17
|-
|Justice and Judicial and Bar Council
|
- Secretary of Justice
- Regular members of the Judicial and Bar Council
|
|Rodante Marcoleta
|Independent
|
|Jose Aquino II
|Lakas
| style="text-align:center;"|15
| style="text-align:center;"|17
|-
|Agriculture
|Secretary of Agriculture
|
|Marcelino Teodoro
|NUP
|
|Lito Lapid
|NPC
| style="text-align:center;"|15
| style="text-align:center;"|17
|-
| rowspan="2" |Public Works and Highways
| rowspan="2" |Secretary of Public Works and Highways
| rowspan="2"
| rowspan="2" |Roy Loyola
| rowspan="2" |NPC
|
|Raffy Tulfo
|Independent
| rowspan="2" style="text-align:center;"|14
| rowspan="2" style="text-align:center;"|17
|-
|
|Marcelino Teodoro
|NUP
|-
|Education
|Secretary of Education
|
|Raffy Tulfo
|Independent
|
|Roy Loyola
|NPC
| style="text-align:center;"|15
| style="text-align:center;"|17
|-
|Labor, Employment, Social Welfare and Migrant Workers
|
- Secretary of Labor and Employment
- Secretary of Social Welfare and Development
- Secretary of Migrant Workers
|
|Benjamin Agarao Jr.
|PFP
|
|Imee Marcos
|Nacionalista
| style="text-align:center;"|15
| style="text-align:center;"|17
|-
|Health
|Secretary of Health
|
|Bong Go
|PDP
|
|Roy Loyola
|NPC
| style="text-align:center;"|15
| style="text-align:center;"|17
|-
|Trade and Industry
|Secretary of Trade and Industry
|
|Lani Mercado
|Lakas
|
|Loren Legarda
|NPC
| style="text-align:center;"|15
| style="text-align:center;"|17
|-
|Tourism and Economic Development
|
- Secretary of Tourism
- Secretary of Economy, Planning, and Development
|
|Arnulf Bryan Fuentebella
|NPC
|
|Loren Legarda
|NPC
| style="text-align:center;"|15
| style="text-align:center;"|17
|-
|Environment and Natural Resources
|Secretary of Environment and Natural Resources
|
|JV Ejercito
|NPC
|
|Eddiebong Plaza
|NUP
| style="text-align:center;"|15
| style="text-align:center;"|17
|-
|Science and Technology
|Secretary of Science and Technology
|
|Eddiebong Plaza
|NUP
|
|Risa Hontiveros
|Akbayan
| style="text-align:center;"|15
| style="text-align:center;"|17
|-
|Interior and Local Government
|Secretary of the Interior and Local Government
|
|Loren Legarda
|NPC
|
|Allan Ty
|LPGMA
| style="text-align:center;"|15
| style="text-align:center;"|17
|-
|Constitutional Commissions and Offices
|
- Members of the Civil Service Commission
- Members of the Commission on Audit
- Members of the Commission on Elections
|
|Joel Villanueva
|Independent
| bgcolor="#EEE234" |
|Robert Raymund Estrella
|Abono
| style="text-align:center;"|15
| style="text-align:center;"|17
|-
|Transportation
|Secretary of Transportation
|
|Lani Mercado
|Lakas
|
|Raffy Tulfo
|Independent
| style="text-align:center;"|15
| style="text-align:center;"|17
|-
|Agrarian Reforms
|Secretary of Agrarian Reform
|
|Risa Hontiveros
|Akbayan
| bgcolor="#EEE234" |
|Robert Raymund Estrella
|Abono
| style="text-align:center;"|15
| style="text-align:center;"|17
|-
|Executive Secretary and Presidential Communications<br>Offices of the Office of the President and the Philippine<br>Space Agency
|
- Executive Secretary
- Secretary of the Presidential Communications Office
- Director-General of the Philippine Space Agency
| bgcolor="#EEE234" |
|Robert Raymund Estrella
|Abono
|
|Raffy Tulfo
|Independent
| style="text-align:center;"|15
| style="text-align:center;"|17
|-
|Energy
|Secretary of Energy
|
|Jinggoy Estrada
|PMP
|
|Marcelino Teodoro
|NUP
| style="text-align:center;"|15
| style="text-align:center;"|17
|-
|Information and Communications Technology
|Secretary of Information and Communications Technology
|
|Allan Ty
|LPGMA
|
|Loren Legarda
|NPC
| style="text-align:center;"|15
| style="text-align:center;"|17
|-
|Human Settlements and Urban Development
|Secretary of Human Settlements and Urban Development
|
|Imee Marcos
|Nacionalista
|
|Roy Loyola
|NPC
| style="text-align:center;"|15
| style="text-align:center;"|17
|-
| colspan="10"
|-
| colspan="2" |Accounts
|
|Tonypet Albano
|PFP
|
|Mark Villar
|Nacionalista
| style="text-align:center;"|7
| style="text-align:center;"|9
|-
| colspan="2" rowspan="3" |Rules and Resolutions
| rowspan="3"
| rowspan="3" |Jurdin Jesus Romualdo
| rowspan="3" |Lakas
|
|JV Ejercito
|NPC
| rowspan="3" style="text-align:center;"|5
| rowspan="3" style="text-align:center;"|9
|-
|
|Joel Villanueva
|Independent
|-
| bgcolor="#EEE234" |
|Robert Raymund Estrella
|Abono
|-
| colspan="2" |Ethics
|
|Jose Aquino II
|Lakas
|
|Mark Villar
|Nacionalista
| style="text-align:center;"|7
| style="text-align:center;"|9
|}
Notes
See also
- Appointments Clause, clause in the United States Constitution where the commission is based from.