Guingona bows out of DFA, vows not to fade away

Not fade away.

This was Vice President Teofisto Guingona Jr.’s vow as he spent his last day in office yesterday as foreign affairs secretary, three days ahead of schedule.

"Today, I am bidding farewell but I shall not fade away. I’ll continue to be vigilant, alert and purposeful covering national issues of the day and key interest of what is going on in the Department of Foreign Affairs," he told DFA officials and personnel.

In a statement ending his 17-month stint as DFA head, Guingona said he would continue to help "as a humble public servant of the nation."

"Pursuant to national interest, I shall also assume an active stand on vital issues after taking a brief vacation from work," he added. "For the past two weeks, I packed up everything, including the blanket where I take my rest."

Malacañang, meanwhile, denied yesterday The STAR report that Guingona had sought political concessions from President Arroyo.

In the report, unnamed Lakas officials claimed that Guingona wanted the President to appoint him "Mindanao czar," to pick him as her running mate in the May 2004 elections, and to include his son in the senatorial slate of the administration.

"We strongly deny reports that Vice President and Foreign Affairs Secretary Teofisto Guingona sought any political or personal concessions from the President in connection with his resignation as secretary of foreign affairs recently," the Palace statement said.

Malacañang maintained the official line that Guingona resigned from his DFA post "in view of honest differences of opinion" with the President.

Guingona also hewed to the Malacañang line. Guingona, a known nationalist, had a public row with the President over the deployment of more than 1,000 US troops in Basilan and Zamboanga.

He attended Mass on his last day in office, bid farewell to DFA employees and assured them of his continued assistance to the department.

With his resignation, he becomes a vice president without any portfolio. He described himself as a mere "spare tire waiting for contingencies," but stressed that this would not keep him from assuming an active stand on vital issues facing the country.

Guingona identified these issues as the national interest, the economy and the right of the people to open many views for the government.

Guingona was supposed to relinquish the DFA portfolio on Monday when his resignation takes effect. He, however, decided to end his official duties yesterday since Malacañang declared Monday a special holiday in view of the barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan elections.

One of his last official acts was supposed to be the ceremonial inauguration of the Philippine consulate in China on July 15. Mrs. Arroyo sent her husband, First Gentleman Jose Miguel Arroyo, to lead the Shanghai ceremony instead.

The President had announced that she would act as foreign affairs secretary in a concurrent capacity while a search committee prepares a short-list of Guingona’s replacement.

Guingona said he was never offered a position, including the Mindanao czar post, after he resigned during a heart-to-heart talk with the President in Davao City last week.

He said he would "remain his own man, he would not be a tool of any one, and that he is not going to pick fights but instead play a constructive role."

"I can assure you that my stand on vital issues will be constructive. It is not meant to destroy; it is meant to help, open eyes and act for second thoughts for the good of the nation," he stressed.