Gonzalez named chief legal counsel

MANILA, Philippines – Another Cabinet revamp looms after President Arroyo designated erstwhile Justice Secretary Raul Gonzalez as new chief presidential legal counsel while Solicitor General Agnes Devanadera was appointed acting secretary of justice.

Deputy presidential spokeswoman Lorelei Fajardo said other movements in the Cabinet would likely follow as Devanadera’s post would be vacated soon.

“We could see some changes in the Cabinet,” Fajardo said in a telephone interview. “The President has the prerogative to strengthen her official family to serve the people better.”

Gonzalez’s removal from the Department of Justice had raised speculations that Mrs. Arroyo was not satisfied with him for various reasons.

Some sources were saying that Gonzalez’s transfer was apparently connected to the double-murder case of the late publicist Salvador Dacer and his driver Emmanuel Corbito, which is scheduled to be revived after the recent arrival from the United States of a key witness, former police senior superintendent Cezar Mancao.

Devanadera, whose appointment took effect yesterday, would temporarily handle the justice portfolio in concurrent capacity until a new solicitor general is designated.

Gonzalez’s new post took effect last June 4, the same day Mrs. Arroyo made the appointments of the two officials, Fajardo said. The President apparently relayed her appointments from St. Petersburg, Russia where she was on official visit at the time.

Gonzalez’s predecessor, Jesus Dureza, will most likely be given a posting involving Mindanao affairs, she said. “I would assume that he would get a post that has something to do with Mindanano affairs because that’s his preference,” Fajardo said in a news briefing.

Presidential Management Staff chief Secretary Hermogenes Esperon was reported to have been appointed to another Cabinet post regarding security matters.

Esperon, however, told The STAR yesterday he was not aware of his new appointment.

Fajardo said the justice chief asked Mrs. Arroyo for a “less strenuous job” a few weeks ago because his 38-year-old son Jose Mari has been having epileptic attacks and he wants to bring him to the miraculous shrine of Our Lady of Lourdes in France.

“He is sick. And I want to bring him to Lourdes in France and pray for a miracle there,” Gonzalez said.

“Secretary Gonzalez was also very vocal that he plans to run for mayor of Iloilo so it is inevitable for him to resign by November. So I think the President made a good choice by appointing Secretary Devanadera considering that she already was the acting secretary in the absence of Secretary Gonzalez,” Fajardo said.

Gonzalez’s statements yesterday to The STAR, however, bolstered rumors that his transfer was connected to his handling of the double –murder case though he admitted that he wanted to bring his son to Lourdes for healing.

He said he may ask Mrs. Arroyo to reconsider or allow him to continue handling the case.

“I want to stay on to handle the case if they allow me to, even if I’m already the (chief presidential) legal counsel. Obviously, Mancao and (former police superintendent Glenn) Dumlao’s confidence is on me,” he said, referring to another witness still in the US.

He also said there is also a possibility that Devanadera may again be included in the list of nominees for the Supreme Court by the Judicial and Bar Council (JBC).

He said the JBC may need at least two weeks to decide whether to include Devanadera in the list of nominees to be submitted to the President.

Devanadera has a pending application for an SC seat that is still being deliberated on by the JBC.

As a member of the JBC, Gonzalez himself announced that the committee, which prepares the final list of candidates from where the President would choose justices to be appointed to the High Court, has met yesterday and gave the solicitor general two more weeks for resolution of a pending graft case against her at the Office of the Ombudsman.

He said the JBC has deferred its scheduled voting for the selection of candidates for two vacant SC seats that would be recommended to the Palace.

“She (Devanadera) asked to be given a chance to explain her situation so we are waiting for two more weeks before we decide on whether or not she should be disqualified again. In fairness to her, I hope the Ombudsman would resolve the cases already,” Gonzalez told reporters in an interview.

Devanadera had earlier been nominated to a seat at the SC but was removed from the shortlist of JBC because of the pending graft case against her.

Under Rule 4, Section 5 of the Rules of JBC, candidates who have pending criminal or regular administrative cases are “disqualified from being nominated for appointment to any judicial post or as Ombudsman or Deputy Ombudsman.”

Devanadera reportedly has two pending cases at the Ombudsman.

In October 2006, former Ilocos Sur governor Luis Singson charged Devanadera, along with 42 other officers of Bases Conversion Development Authority (BCDA), Bulk Handlers Inc. (BHI) and Poro Point Industrial Corp. (PPIC) in connection with the alleged anomalous supervision and operation of the Poro Point Special Economic and Freeport Zone in San Fernando, La Union.

She is also facing another graft case involving alleged anomaly in the purchase of books when she was still head of Office of Government Corporate Counsel, according to her office.

Earlier, the Ombudsman announced that Devanadera is facing 15 other charges filed by anonymous complainants. - Paolo Romero, Edu Punay