‘Tito drafted GMA letter accepting resignation’

Vice President Teofisto Guingona Jr. himself drafted President Arroyo’s letter accepting his resignation as foreign affairs secretary, in a move that would pave the way for his appointment as secretary of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), replacing Secretary Heherson Alvarez.

A highly placed Malacañang source told The STAR that Mrs. Arroyo and Guingona already had a "tacit agreement" for his subsequent appointment as DENR secretary because Alvarez’s appointment has been bypassed by the Commission on Appointments repeatedly.

On Thursday evening, Guingona declared that he will run for president, but he has not chosen his running mate yet.

The Malacañang source said political allies of the President are working on Alvarez’s resignation and that he is being considered as replacement for Alfonso Yuchengco, the ambassador to the United Nations, who wants to return home due to old age.

On Thursday night, however, Guingona declared that he "survived the first round" of what appeared to be a looming political psy-war against Mrs. Arroyo.

He also denied having drafted Mrs. Arroyo’s letter accepting his purported resignation as foreign secretary and that there was not even a "verbal agreement" that he would leave the post.

Guingona conceded that it is Mrs. Arroyo who is the "chief architect" of the country’s foreign policy, and that from now on he will toe the President’s line on foreign policy matters.

However, it was unclear whether from now on he will refrain from publicly criticizing the President’s foreign policy, notably the presence of US soldiers in the country.

Guingona made the statements in a forum organized by the Manila Overseas Press Club led by Antonio Lopez.

Guingona said factions within the government are "very possibly" working to dislodge him as foreign affairs secretary by taking advantage of their foreign policy differences.

Meanwhile, opposition lawmakers clamored for Guingona to resign his post "for the sake of the Office of the President and for your self-esteem." The militant opposition however advised him to "stand his ground."

Guingona’s seeming surprised reaction to his departure from the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) can be attributed to a foul-up of communications among Malacañang officials and Guingona, that eventually ended with the President flip-flopping on what to do with him.

On Thursday, another source told The STAR that Guingona cannot deny the letter that he drafted for the President when he met with her on Wednesday.

Guingona "crafted the draft of the letter for the President. So how can he deny something which he himself wrote?" the Palace source said.

Guingona and the President reportedly talked about his "desire to be moved over to the DENR."

The foul-up, specifically the timing of the release of Guingona’s alleged draft letter, apparently did not start with acting Press Secretary Silvestre Afable who bravely said he committed a "mistake" in releasing the letter of the President that was intended to the "torn up and not sent."

"It was really meant to be torn up because it was not meant to be sent to the Vice President. So after I released it to the press and after the Vice President denied it, I checked back with the President and was told that the letter was not supposed to be sent," Afable said Thursday.

The foul-up began with Presidential Adviser on Political Affairs Jose Rufino and Executive Secretary (on leave) Alberto Romulo, who is taking a rest in Thailand. Rufino charged yesterday that he suspects the political opposition was behind the Malacañang blunder.

"I also have suspicions in my mind. I say this might be destabilization (bid) again taking place because it is difficult to believe that it came from inside (Malacañang). Perhaps, the opposition were the ones causing trouble," Rufino told dzXL in an interview yesterday.

The confusion started when Afable released to the press the controversial letter, while Mrs. Arroyo, Rufino and several Malacañang officials were meeting Alex Exclamado, a US-based Filipino community leader.

In the meeting, the President told Exclamado that she will send Guingona to the US in August to represent her.

Also yesterday, Afable told a forum by the foreign correspondents that he will not resign his post despite his "mistake" of releasing to the press the presidential letter to Guingona. He even insisted the letter was genuine and that it was not meant to be sent to the President "for the time being."

Excerpts of the controversial letter have remarkable similarity to the speech Guingona delivered to the Manila Overseas Press Club where he proceeded following his meeting with the President on Thursday evening.

‘I’ve survived the first round’

"I’ve survived the first round," Guingona told the Manila Overseas Press Club forum Thursday.

Asked pointedly if there were elements who want him out, Guingona said, "As to other parties, I’ve not sufficient proof or knowledge to say there are forces behind this. Very possibly, there are. But I don’t have evidence to come out in the open."

Guingona admitted Mrs. Arroyo gave no assurance that he will not be eventually removed from the post of foreign affairs secretary. "In life, I understand there’s nothing sure except death and taxes."

"Que sera sera (Whatever will be, will be)," was his reply to the question if he will be able to survive further attempts to clip his powers.

Another source said yesterday that the "de facto Department of Foreign Affairs in Malacañang" led by former Foreign Secretary and now special envoy on international competitiveness Roberto Romulo is one of those who want Guingona divested of the foreign affairs portfolio.

The sources cited the public policy difference between Mrs. Arroyo and Guingona on the Balikatan 02-1 joint RP-US military exercise as one of the factors contributing to the political friction between the two leaders.

In the alleged June 26 letter, Mrs. Arroyo alluded to his public opposition to the current Balikatan as one of the reasons for his dismissal.

Asked if he agreed to the observation that he may step down in three months as a possible graceful exit, he said "the premise is a little wrong."

Guingona said the President apologized to him for the mistake and that Afable "admitted there was a mistake indeed."

There is no need to mend fences with Malacañang because there was no rupture between him and Mrs. Arroyo, he said.

Solons tell Guingona to resign

"Quit now for the sake of the Office of the Vice President and for your self-esteem," Sen. Edgardo Angara advised Guingona, adding that he believed it was the President herself who permitted the release of her letter accepting the foreign secretary’s resignation.

Angara said that Afable did not commit any mistake and Mrs. Arroyo had really intended to let go of Guingona.

"Don’t cling to it. Cut and cut cleanly," the senator told Guingona.

Angara referred to an unwritten rule in the Cabinet that at any time the President wants to remove a Cabinet member, the President only has to say that he or she is accepting the Cabinet member’s "resignation."

"What Vice President Guingona did was unprecedented. He took a strong stand," he said.

Using the Guingona resignation as a ploy, Angara said the President is trying to hit two birds with one stone: to remove Guingona and to give his post to an anti-administration senator in order to decimate their ranks.

In a statement, Rep. Gilbert Remulla told Guingona that "there’s no more room for him in her Cabinet."

"Vice President Guingona should take a hint from the body language of the President. Clearly, Mrs. Arroyo does not want him to have anything to do with her Cabinet any longer and the only honorable thing to do for the Vice President is to resign," he said.

Remulla also said that Afable should resign or that Mrs. Arroyo should fire him "for making a fool out of the Vice President" and for "serious breach of protocol."

Sen. Teresa Aquino Oreta said the clarification provided by Afable did not explain fully why the President had a draft letter accepting Guingona’s alleged offer to resign.

"Did Guingona offer to quit or was he being forced out of the DFA to give way to another appointee who, for one, is more receptive to the continued stay of the American troops in the country? Malacañang has a lot of explaining to do in this issue," she said.

Citing news reports that US soldiers will extend their presence here, Oreta said, "Will Guingona again complain of not being consulted on this issue?"

She said Guingona "should now realize that he’s the odd man out in the Arroyo Cabinet, particularly when it comes to the ongoing Balikatan exercises and take the necessary stops to stop this affront to his position."

On the other hand, Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (Bayan) secretary general Teodoro Casiño called Guingona a "patriot" and said they cannot understand what Mrs. Arroyo is "really up to" in firing and then retaining him.

Casino said Guingona must be true to his "patriotic stand" against the return of US troops to the country. — Efren Danao, Aurea Calica, Rodel Bagares