MANILA – President Rodrigo Duterte has reappointed his secretaries who have been bypassed several times by the powerful Commission on Appointments (CA).

Duterte signed on June 1 the ad interim appointment papers of Health Secretary Paulyn Ubial, Agrarian Reform Secretary Rafael Mariano, Social and Welfare Secretary Judy Taguiwalo, and Environment Secretary Roy Cimatu.

The appointments of the 4 secretaries were bypassed when Congress ran out of time to conduct hearings before June 3, when Congress started its annual mandatory adjournment. An appointee is deemed bypassed by the commission once his appointment is not confirmed before Congress goes on recess.

Congress is set to resume session on July 24, the day the President delivers his second State of the Nation Address (SONA).

Ubial, Mariano and Taguiwalo have been bypassed by the powerful commission several times amid opposition to their appointments. Cimatu, on the other hand, has not yet faced the commission since his appointment on May 8.