I’m qualified to head DoLE, says ex-IBP chief

MANILA, Philippines—Former Integrated Bar of the Philippines (IBP) president Jose Anselmo Cadiz, who is reportedly being considered by President-elect Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III to head the Department of Labor and Employment (DoLE), yesterday defended his record as being “pro-people” and dismissed allegations that he was pro-management for having lawyered for two major banks.

The National Union of Bank Employees (NUBE) had appealed to Aquino not to appoint Cadiz to DoLE because of his “ties” with the banks.

Cadiz, however, said his track record would show that he was a “pro-people lawyer who has consistently fought for the rights of the marginalized.”

“I have always fought to uphold the rule of law even if it means going against the powers-that-be, which is why as IBP president I did not hesitate to go to the Supreme Court to challenge the outgoing administration’s attempts to erode our people’s constitutionally guaranteed rights,” he said in a statement to the Inquirer.

The IBP played a crucial role in challenging the controversial Executive Order No. 464, which barred officials of the executive branch from testifying in congressional investigations without the approval of the President.

Cadiz said it was also under his watch that the IBP opposed the calibrated preemptive response policy of Malacañang and Presidential Proclamation No. 1017, which paved the way for the declaration of a nationwide state of emergency in February 2006.

The high court ruled in favor of the IBP and its co-petitioners in all the cases, he said.

“We beat President Macapagal-Arroyo in the Supreme Court because we had the law and the people on our side. I believe that anyone who takes a position in government should apply that same principle and protect the people’s welfare within the parameters of the law,” Cadiz said.

“It’s clear that from my past advocacies that I’ve stood up for and defended the rights of the marginalized. Maybe that is why I have the good fortune of being considered by the president-elect for that position,” he added.

The NUBE, which groups over 30 bank employee groups, based mostly in Makati City, said Cadiz would not be an effective labor secretary because he had served as legal counsel of the Aboitiz-owned City Savings Bank and Asiatrust Bank. –Jerome Aning, Philippine Daily Inquirer