`Dragon Lady' gets scolded for crying

Why cry, Dragon Lady?

Sounding more like a father than a boss, President Estrada scolded Presidential Management Staff (PMS) head Leonora "Lenny" de Jesus for crying over reports that she had been removed from her post.

The President told reporters yesterday that he spoke with De Jesus recently and told her that the intrigues she had to contend with paled when compared with those besetting him.

"I told her, `are you still not used to these things? I, as President, have had to contend with far greater intrigues. These are just minor ones unworthy of your tears,'" he said.

As this developed, the National Bureau of Investigation disclosed yesterday that De Jesus has sought to stop the NBI's probe of the controversial Christmas card bearing her photograph with her banker boyfriend Ramon Abad.

NBI Director Federico Opinion said probers were supposed to submit a final report on the case last Jan. 10 but were stalled by a request from De Jesus' office for the investigation to be stopped.

Despite the request, however, he said the NBI has decided to continue with the probe.

"Nothing can stop the NBI from pursuing the case. We just need more investigative leads," he said.

The Christmas card bearing the photo of De Jesus and her reported boyfriend, Development Bank of the Philippines president Ramoncito Abad, was sent to various government officials and other leaders last yuletide season. It carried a message of love purportedly from the couple.

However, De Jesus and Abad were both surprised to see the card. They denied that the card came from them.

The President, for his part, said he had admonished De Jesus to be strong in the face of intrigues and reported in-fighting among his Cabinet members.

`Of course she was shocked (by developments)," he said. "She's a woman and women easily cry."

Mr. Estrada admitted that there has been lingering envy among members of his administration, but he shrugged all these as part of politics.

"You cannot totally remove envy. Even in other places, not just in the Palace, people get envious of others," he said.

And he dismissed reports that Executive Secretary Ronaldo Zamora had a rift with De Jesus.

"Maybe they have members of their staff who are quarreling but they themselves are not," he said. "As far as I know they are in talking terms and minor differences (between them) should not be cause for alarm."

It was Zamora who broke the news that De Jesus was being removed from PMS to be made head of the soon-to-be-created Department of Housing.

He also announced that former University of the Philippines professor Aphrodicio Laquian was being considered to replace De Jesus.

The President has clarified, though, that De Jesus would remain in PMS and Laquian may be appointed as presidential chief of staff in charge of coordinating different agencies under the Office of the President.

The chief of staff, he added, would be directly under the executive secretary and would have only administrative functions. "The executive secretary's work is really too much so we have to find help," Mr. Estrada said.