GMA urged to replace entire Cabinet

President Arroyo will make more changes in the composition of her Cabinet as she sees fit, Press Secretary Ignacio Bunye said yesterday.

Bunye, however, refused to categorically say whether more Cabinet members will be relieved in the near future, even as he dismissed criticisms from the opposition that the latest revamp was merely cosmetic.

"(The President) will make changes in the Cabinet as and when the need arises," Bunye said. "She is in the best position to know what needs to be done. She has outlined the programs that will be implemented and she knows who are to implement them."

Asked whether more heads in Mrs. Arroyo’s official family are due to roll, Bunye said he "cannot comment on that, these are confidential matters."

He added that he will "not say there will never be a revamp. There is no specific time frame."

Bunye noted that it is not true that the latest revamp — which removed Heherson Alvarez as Environment and Natural Resources secretary and Leonardo Montemayor as Agriculture secretary — was merely "cosmetic."

The President, he said, has the broader picture of government operations and has the interest of the country and its people in mind when replacing or appointing officials to the Cabinet.

Lawmakers, on the other hand, are urging the President to sweep her entire Cabinet clean.

Rep. Abraham Mitra (LDP, Palawan) said that if Cabinet members who perform well - such as former Education Secretary Raul Roco, Montemayor, and Alvarez - were replaced, "then all the more that the laggards (in the Cabinet) be sacked."

Sen. Edgardo Angara suggested a "sweeping, comprehensive, and meaningful" revamp of the Cabinet, which addresses "the weakest spots in our government, topped by the grossly mismanaged public finance sector and its clueless intelligence and national security service."

Though Angara did not mention any Cabinet member by name, Senate sources said he was referring to Finance Secretary Jose Isidro Camacho, Defense Secretary Angelo Reyes, and National Security Adviser Roilo Golez.

"If Cabinet men who rendered a good job were fired, then the more reason to fire non-performers," Mitra said.

He noted when Roco was still education secretary, he had the highest performance rating among the members of Mrs. Arroyo’s official family, while Alvarez and Montemayor were faring better than others.

A Lakas congressman, who did not want to be named, said those who risked their lives to be at the forefront of the impeachment initiative against ousted President Joseph Estrada are being eased out of the Arroyo administration and replaced by those who stayed in the sidelines.

The lawmaker noted that it was then Sen. Teofisto Guingona Jr., in his "I accuse" speech, who started the move in Congress to oust Estrada.