Malacañang: Dimaporo at war with herself

MANILA, Philippines - Malacañang yesterday defended Presidential Peace Adviser Teresita Deles against allegations from lawmakers that she engaged in a word war with Lanao del Sur Rep. Aliah Dimaporo. Presidential spokesman Edwin Lacierda said Deles is not the type of person that would start a fight.

“Ging Deles was not at war with Rep. Dimaporo. Rep. Dimaporo was at war with herself. She texted Ging Deles thanking her for that frank discussion and then she was asking for coordination with the staff of Ging after that,” Lacierda said.  

The House of Representatives passed a resolution calling on Deles to resign after allegedly insulting Dimaporo at the sidelines of the budget deliberations at the plenary last week.

Dimaporo alleged Deles raised her voice at her during their discussions regarding the peace process in Mindanao.

The Lanao lawmaker added Deles “started to get personal” and insinuated that she was intentionally delaying the budget hearings for the Office of the President.

Different narration

Lacierda said the incident was blown out of proportion, citing the “different narration of facts” by Davao del Sur Rep. Douglas Cagas. Cagas had called on colleagues to approve the resolution condemning Deles and suggested the budget of the Office of Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process (OPAPP) be cut to just one peso.

“And then after sending that text (message) to Ging Deles, Rep. Dimaporo through Rep. Mark Cagas came out with a different narration of facts which is totally at war with the text that she sent,” Lacierda further said.

“So obviously it was not Ging who has a problem. It was a statement that Rep. Dimaporo was making and which was inconsistent with the text that she sent to Ging. So that’s the reason why Ging was very surprised,” he said. 

Lacierda said there were witnesses during the meeting between Deles and Dimaporo that saw otherwise.

“Otherwise, Ging Deles would not have received a text from Rep. Dimaporo (thanking her),” he said.

‘President trusts Deles’

At the same time, Lacierda junked proposals from several lawmakers to replace Deles with former Tarlac governor Margarita Cojuangco.

Lacierda pointed out Cojuangco is a relative of the President. Cojuangco is Aquino’s aunt.

“You cannot appoint Ms. Cojuangco, it’s against the Constitution. She is within the fourth civil degree of consanguinity with the President and therefore you cannot appoint her to a (government) position,” Lacierda said. 

He said the lawmakers led by Sulu Rep. Rep. Tupay Loong were not aware of the rule against appointing relatives in government.

“At least, she (Cojuangco) falls within that prohibited degree of consanguinity, so the President would be violating the Constitution if he decides to appoint Ms. Cojuangco.” 

Lacierda stressed the President “has imposed his confidence” in Deles.

Too arrogant

Sen. Francis Escudero, however, advised Deles against being too arrogant. Escudero said Deles’ arrogance could cause Mr. Aquino some negative press and even jeopardize the government’s peace efforts.

“Arrogance has no place in governance. If she cannot get along with co-workers in government, how could you expect her to get along with others? I think that should be the first lesson she should learn and adopt as a peace negotiator,” Escudero said.

He warned Deles against taking such an attitude against the congressmen who passed the resolution. Escudero said the House resolution should serve as a wake-up call for Deles.

“It helps and pays a lot if you exercise humility in your dealings not only with government but also especially with rebels,” he added.

Escudero criticized Deles for not showing any sign of being affected by the issue. He said the only reaction came from Malacañang, which reiterated the President’s support for Deles even after the House passed the resolution. “It’s not a question of saying I’m sorry and apologizing, but at the very least if it was a misunderstanding, if that was not what she meant, she should say so,” Escudero said. – With Marvin Sy