More losers in 2007 polls may get government posts Palace

MANILA, Philippines – With the entry of former senator Vicente Sotto III to the Arroyo administration as head of the Dangerous Drugs Board, Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita said it is “highly probable” that the other losing Team Unity candidates could very well be on their way in, too.

According to Ermita, Sotto was at his office yesterday morning to get his appointment papers for the post of chairman of the DDB.

Sotto would take the place of Anselmo Avenido whose appointment, according to Ermita, lapsed yesterday.

Ermita said that he does not know if Avenido would be given some other post but he said that “he has been there a long time” anyway.

Just like Sotto, who has an extensive background in fighting illegal drugs, Ermita said that the other Team Unity candidates were also very qualified to take up certain posts in the government.

Apart from being qualified, Ermita said that these candidates were all well known public figures so getting back into public service should not pose any problem.

“It’s highly probable, why not, sure,” Ermita said when asked if the losing Team Unity bets could be given posts in government.

Among the Team Unity members whose names have cropped up as possible candidates to Cabinet positions were former senators Ralph Recto, Tessie Aquino-Oreta, former Surigao del Sur congressman Prospero Pichay and former presidential chief of staff Michael Defensor.

Defensor is actually a step ahead of his Team Unity colleagues as the President has designated him as head of the Task Force overseeing the opening of the Ninoy Aquino International Airport-Terminal 3.

Ermita said that Mrs. Arroyo would never forget about the Team Unity candidates but whatever is at stake for them is up to the President to decide.

“When they were chosen to run under Team Unity, of course the President was a major factor in (selecting) the composition of Team Unity,” Ermita said in Filipino.

“That they did not make it in the election, this is not something that the President will forget. So it’s really up to the President,” Ermita said.

Ermita said that just like in the case of Sotto, the possible return of the Team Unity candidates to public service does not necessarily mean that it would be in the Cabinet.

He said the President follows her own procedure in appointing people to the government and this is not based on the preference of the concerned nominees but on the idea of Mrs. Arroyo on which position is best suited for them.