Puno to quit Dec. 8 due to feng shui

Press Secretary Ricardo Puno Jr. plans to resign on Dec. 8 not because of the jueteng bribery scandal but to run for senator in the May 2001 elections, according to a Malacañang source.

Puno recently announced his plan to a small group of Malacañang officials and told them that he specifically chose Dec. 8 to resign upon the advice of a feng shui expert, the source said.

Feng shui or Chinese geomancy seeks to harmonize physical location with the natural elements, and is believed to bring good fortune.

So far, Puno is among the five Cabinet members who are certain to run next year under the banner of the President’s Lapian ng Masang Pilipino coalition.

Executive Secretary Ronaldo Zamora recently said Puno, Agriculture Secretary Edgardo Angara and three other Cabinet members plan to enter the political arena.

Agriculture Secretary Edgardo Angara, however, denied yesterday Zamora’s statement that he intends to run again for the Senate.

"I am sticking to my previous statement. I would rather retire than run for public office," he said. "I have exhausted my capabilities. I have done almost everything in my years in the Senate, including authoring landmark legislation."

Rather than return to the political arena after spending 12 years as a senator and having one of the longest Senate presidencies (1993 to 1995), Angara said he wants to concentrate on his current post as agriculture secretary.

"There is not even a one percent chance that I will be running for public office at this point," he said.

After his stint in the Senate, Angara initially planned to run for president in 1998 and then decided to be President Estrada’s running mate but lost to Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo. – With Rocel Felix