GMA replacing officials en masse

MANILA, Philippines - After getting the green light from the Supreme Court (SC) to appoint the next chief justice, President Arroyo has apparently gone on an appointing spree, naming an ambassador, several officials of government agencies, and replacing the entire boards of two cultural institutions with barely three months left in her term and despite the constitutional ban on midnight appointments.

In what some quarters are calling a pre-election “massacre,” the entire boards as well as the heads of the National Museum and the National Historical Institute (NHI), both agencies under the Office of the President, were changed, with most of them not even knowing they had been replaced.

The President also appointed business tycoon Alfonso Yuchengco, 86, as ambassador to Germany, with current Ambassador Delia Domingo-Albert learning about it only when she went to Malacañang last Friday to receive an award from a women’s business group.

Sources said Mrs. Arroyo told Albert, a career diplomat and former secretary of foreign affairs, that she had appointed Yuchengco as the new envoy to Germany when Abert sought confirmation of rumors she had heard. Albert is set to retire from the foreign service in June.

“We have learned of Yuchengco’s appointment but we have not received official copy of his appointment. Ambassador Albert stays so far,” a ranking official of the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) told The STAR.

The same official pointed out Mrs. Arroyo clearly violated the ban on appointments during the election period.

Article VII Sec. 15 of the Constitution says, “Two months before the next presidential elections and up to the end of his term, a President or Acting President shall not make appointments, except temporary appointments to executive positions when continued vacancies therein will prejudice public service or endanger public safety.”

Retired journalist Larry Henares assumed the chairmanship of the National Museum, replacing businessman Antonio Cojuangco, who was not told that he had been replaced. The new National Museum board reportedly met at the Palace yesterday afternoon and elected Malacañang Museum director Jeremy Barns as the new museum director, replacing Cora Alvina.

The other members of the board were not identified, but Senate and House representatives to the museum board, Sen. Manuel Roxas II and Marikina Rep. Del de Guzman, were reportedly not informed of or invited to the board meeting.

The board members and executive director of the NHI were also reportedly replaced, but the names of the new appointees were not revealed. It was not clear whether NHI chairman Ambeth Ocampo was also replaced.

Last December, Mrs. Arroyo appointed Cebu Rep. Antonio Cuenco and businessman Francisco Benedicto as ambassadors to Italy and China, respectively.

The appointments raised a howl among career officials who pointed out that Cuenco and Benedicto would only serve as envoys for less than six months, co-terminus with the remaining term of office of President Arroyo until June 30.

The Union of Foreign Service Officers (Unifors) also reminded the President that Benedicto is already 65 years old, and his appointment would violate Section 23 of the Foreign Service Act.

Mrs. Arroyo also appointed Assistant Secretary Rommel Garcia, deputy director for operations, to replace Clarence Paul Oaminal as vice chairman of the Dangerous Drug Board (DDB).

Oaminal, for his part, said he was surprised by the appointment but stressed he is not contesting his sudden removal on the orders of the President.

“I know that if the late (Press) Secretary (Cerge) Remonde were alive today, I would not have been replaced the way it was done,” Oaminal lamented.

He said he was so busy going after illegal drugs and drug lords, “I forgot to watch my back.”

Oaminal said he could not explain why he was suddenly replaced. He also learned that upon receiving the letter from Galvante, his removal from DBB was retroactive to March 5, which he said, was before the election ban on appointments that started March 10.

Mrs. Arroyo yesterday also appointed retired Court of Appeals Associate Justice Perlita Tria-Tirona to head the newly formed independent committee that will review all major tax evasion and smuggling cases dismissed by the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) and the Bureau of Customs (BOC).

Other members of the Review Committee that were appointed include Kapisanan ng mga Brodkaster ng Pilipinas (KBP) vice chairman Butch Canoy, Publishers’ Association of the Philippines Inc. president Juan Dayang, Federation of Filipino-Chinese Chambers of Commerce and Industry Inc. president Alfonso Uygongco, and Philippine Exporters Confederation Inc. representative Oscar Barrera.

Mrs. Arroyo has also promoted Land Transportation Office (LTO) chief Arturo Lomibao as Undersecretary in the Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC).

Executive Secretary Leandro Mendoza said on Wednesday that Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) chairman Alberto Suansing was appointed to replace Lomibao at the LTO.

LTO insiders said they were expecting the turnover of office between Lomibao and Suansing to be held yesterday.

Lomibao, however, appeared and immediately presided over a meeting of top officials of the agency.

Lomibao was said to have been able to prevail on the President to reverse the appointment but there were no officials who could confirm the report.

It was not yet clear who would replace Suansing at the LTFRB.

Earlier, former presidential political affairs adviser Gabriel Claudio was named chairman of the Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System, replacing Oscar Garcia, who still retains his board seat.

The President also appointed retired Sandiganbayan justice Raoul Victorino as chief presidential legal counsel, replacing Natividad Dizon, who had held the post for only two weeks. Dizon was moved to the Board of Pardons and Parole.

Another short-lived appointment was that of Rogelio Peyuan, who was replaced as director general of the Technical Education and Skills Authority (TESDA) only a few days after he assumed office. He was moved to the Office of the Press Secretary. Former TESDA deputy director general for operations Pastor Guiao took over as director general.

Another controversial issue involved Undersecretary Ariston de los Reyes, who was relieved as Defense undersecretary, allegedly because his appointment as presidential assistant had lapsed.

Other appointments include veteran broadcast journalist Mario Garcia as member of the board of the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA) and Civil Service Commission head Francisco Duque III as member of the board of the Pag-IBIG Fund, although there was no vacancy in the Pag-IBIG board. With Jerry Botial