Palace eyeing possible Cabinet appointees

MANILA, Philippines - President Arroyo already has a list of possible replacements for Cabinet officials who are expected to resign in the coming weeks to run for local or national elective posts next year, Malacañang said yesterday.

Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita said after comparing notes with presidential adviser for political affairs Gabriel Claudio, he has found that probably 15 Cabinet members have resigned or are expected to resign soon to run for office.

“The choice to (fill vacant) Cabinet posts is only with the President,” he said.

“She holds her cards close to her chest so she doesn’t tell me but we know in the Cabinet (there are) career and senior undersecretaries so you can be very sure there will be no hiatus because at the least somebody is designated OIC (officer-in-charge) or acting until after a more permanent one is appointed. Only the President knows.

“All possible replacements of Cabinet secretaries who will run have been discussed in a very informal way but I assure you it’s a very correct assumption that the President already has in her mind who should be taking over, just like what happened in the case of Ebdane.”

Ermita was referring to resigned Public Works Secretary Hermogenes Ebdane Jr., who is running for president.

He said the matter of resigning would be left to the Cabinet official concerned.

“It (resignation) depends because a candidate is also worried he or she might be hit in the media that he or she is taking advantage of his position so they could submit their resignations early,” he said.

Ermita said it would be Defense Secretary Gilbert Teodoro Jr.’s call whether he would resign from the Cabinet to run as the administration Lakas-Kampi-CMD’s standard-bearer next year.

“If there would be another typhoon and you resign, they will say you have no sense of responsibility, you resigned when there is an emergency. So we just have to leave it to him, to his better judgment.”

Ermita said in the case of Health Secretary Francisco Duque III who is reportedly eyeing a Senate seat, it cannot be helped that he would be very visible to the public because of his work.

“It’s a matter of perception. Some Cabinet members have their own programs so we cannot fault them… there are different ways of looking at the picture so just leave it to them,” he said.

Among those reportedly running for elective posts are Presidential Management Staff chief Hermogenes Esperon for a congressional post in Pangasinan, Cabinet Secretary Silvestre Bello for senator, and Environment Secretary Lito Atienza for Manila mayor.

Among the Cabinet officials who recently resigned were presidential adviser for the peace process Avelino Razon Jr., who is aiming to be mayor of Manila, and Public Works Secretary Ebdane. —Paolo Romero