Noli gets back to work despite crisis

After more than a week of silence on the political crisis gripping the Arroyo administration, Vice President Noli de Castro was back in the limelight yesterday, appearing at a clearing operation for the North Rail Project in Balagtas, Bulacan.

But the Office of the Vice President had not announced any scheduled activities for De Castro yesterday.

De Castro, President Arroyo’s constitutional successor who has declined interviews and refrained from commenting on the issues hounding the President, inspected the clearing operations and led dental and medical missions for families relocated to Bulacan.

Balagtas town is one of the seven towns in Bulacan covered by the north rail project. More than 400 of the 1,141 railway settlers’ families were relocated to the Barangay Santol resettlement area.

De Castro instructed the National Housing Authority (NHA) to speed up the clearing operations after he noticed that there were still houses to be demolished.

The Vice President, who had submitted his courtesy resignation as chairman of the Housing and Urban Development Coordinating Council (HUDCC) on Friday, led the medical and dental missions in Barangay Santol.

Free medicines and basic medical and dental services were provided during the one-day mission with the help of volunteer doctors.

Lawyer Jesse Andres, De Castro’s chief of staff, earlier defended the Vice President’s decision to refrain from commenting on the current political storm and to avoid media interviews.

Andres said it is only proper that Mrs. Arroyo’s constitutional successor remain silent on the political controversy as he would directly benefit from either a presidential resignation or impeachment.

Since his arrival from Hong Kong last Thursday where he celebrated his 56th birthday, De Castro declined to be interviewed regarding the President’s announcement on Thursday night asking for the courtesy resignations of her entire Cabinet to give her a free hand to reorganize her administration.

Following the resignation of 10 administration officials, led by former finance secretary Cesar Purisima on Friday, he appealed to the public to give Mrs. Arroyo a chance.

Andres reiterated, though, that De Castro was ready to assume the presidency if Mrs. Arroyo steps down.

De Castro also vowed on Wednesday to work doubly hard following the results of the latest Pulse Asia survey in which he fared better than Mrs. Arroyo in the ratings game.

The former broadcast journalist’s trust ratings had also dropped relative to last March and June, as he scored his highest disapproval and distrust ratings in Metro Manila in this latest survey since assuming the post in 2004.

Forty-three percent of Metro Manilans gave De Castro’s performance a thumb’s down while 32 percent were "appreciative" of his efforts, and 24 percent were "ambivalent."

De Castro is leaving it up to Congress to decide on the fate of Mrs. Arroyo. Andres added that De Castro is in favor of pursuing "the truth" over fraud allegations discussed in the wiretapped conversation between the President and an election official believed to be former elections commissioner Virgilio Garcillano.

Although De Castro will never initiate or support an impeachment complaint against the President, Andres said he will also not oppose it. He stressed that the Vice President fully respects the Constitution and will respect whatever is decided by Congress.