Poll losers told to wait, stop lobbying for government posts

MANILA, Philippines -  With the one-year election ban on appointment of losing candidates now over, allies of President Aquino who lost in the polls should give him due respect and stop jockeying for plum government posts, a key Palace official has suggested.

“I think it would be easier if people just wait for the President to make the announcement rather than talk publicly about certain things,” Secretary Ricky Carandang of the President’s communications group said yesterday.

“We can’t tell his final decision, so it’s best if we don’t preempt him regarding prospective candidates,” Carandang said.

He said Aquino hates persistent lobbying.

So far, only former senator Manuel Roxas II - a Liberal Party ally who lost to former Makati City mayor Jejomar Binay in the vice presidential race – is assured of a government post by no less than the President himself.

Aquino had hinted that he might appoint Roxas as presidential chief of staff.

The other potential appointees are former House members Neric Acosta of Bukidnon, Ruffy Biazon of Muntinlupa and Risa Hontiveros of party-list Akbayan. The three lost in the senatorial race last year.

Acosta confirmed he was being considered as replacement for Environment and Natural Resources Secretary Ramon Paje, who is serving in an acting capacity. Biazon is reportedly eyeing either the defense or tourism post, while Hontiveros reportedly wants a post in the National Anti-Poverty Commission.

Carandang said the President is satisfied with his current Cabinet.

“He said he’s happy with the Cabinet now. He does not foresee any changes at this point in the Cabinet, in the existing Cabinet,” he said. Meanwhile, congressmen-allies of former President and now Pampanga Rep. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo vowed yesterday to scrutinize the track records of election losers being readied for government posts by Aquino. “The President should appoint people with unquestioned integrity so he would be consistent with his campaign against corruption. He should not appoint people who are facing charges in the Ombudsman’s office and especially in courts like the Sandiganbayan,” Minority Leader Edcel Lagman told a news conference.

“He should not appoint those facing criminal charges to any public office,” he added.

He said the opposition would not hesitate to question before the Commission on Appointments a Cabinet appointee who cannot attest under oath or submit a certification that he does not have any pending case before the Department of Justice, the Ombudsman’s office, the Sandiganbayan, and other courts.

Lagman did not name potential appointees with court cases, but Davao del Sur Rep. Marc Douglas Cagas, in a statement read for the minority bloc, said there is a “growing list of your (President Aquino’s) officials and allies allegedly involved in corrupt acts.”

He said the list includes Land Transportation Office chief (on leave) Virginia Torres, Local Government Undersecretary Rico Puno and former Bukidnon Rep. Acosta.

Acosta, a defeated senatorial candidate, is facing three graft cases before the Sandiganbayan for his alleged misuse of P7.5 million of his pork barrel funds when he was a congressman. – With Jess Diaz, Ding Cervantes, Marvin Sy