MANILA, Philippines - The Office of the President said on Friday that "no irregularity" has been shown in President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo's "so-called midnight appointments" numbering 250 disclosed by abs-cbnNEWS.com/Newsbreak.

In an interview on ANC's Dateline Philippines, Presidential deputy spokesman Gary Olivar said the appointments conform with the law.

He added that some of the appointments had to be made to provide continuity.

"There's no irregularity that's been shown," Olivar said.

For appointees whose terms had expired, he said that "obviously, they need to be extended."

"We are confident that they [appointments] are in good form," he said.

Olivar said the Palace was "not hiding anything" as he urged the various government agencies and government-owned and -controlled corporations named in the report to cooperate with the media in explaining that there was nothing irregular with the appointments. (Click here for abs-cbnNEWS.com/Newsbreak report.)

Olivar also pointed out that President-apparent Sen. Benigno "Noynoy" Aquino III has already said that he would review the "so-called midnight appointments."

"I would imagine that when the president-apparent does his review, it will also include an inventory of all these things. But he can do all the remedies available to him if there are people he wishes to replace with somebody else in different agencies," he said.

In a report uploaded on Thursday, abs-cbnNEWS.com/Newsbreak said "outgoing President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo has been churning out 'midnight' appointments on a daily basis, all backdated before the constitutional ban on appointments during an election period."

From March 1 to March 9 alone, Arroyo appointed 169 people to GOCCs in 10 government agencies, including those under the Office of the President (OP). (Click here for list of appointments).

The ban on appointments to executive positions started on March 10.

All in all, Arroyo appointed 250 persons via midnight appointments, a government source, who provided the documents, said. -- with a report from Aries Rufo, abs-cbnNEWS.com/Newsbreak