MANILA, Philippines - Sen. Joker Arroyo warned yesterday of a “power struggle” in Malacañang following President Aquino’s decision to appoint defeated vice presidential candidate and former senator Manuel Roxas II as presidential chief of staff.
“The creation of the position of chief of staff would cause confusion and pandemonium in Malacañang. To begin with, there is no such office created by law,” said Arroyo, who was executive secretary during the term of the President’s mother, the late President Corazon Aquino.
Arroyo said the President should just choose between Roxas and Executive Secretary Paquito Ochoa Jr. as his executive secretary to avoid overlapping of functions. He said Ochoa could be given another post with Cabinet rank.
“If the President needs the invaluable assistance of Senator Roxas in Malacañang, a man of excellent credentials, the President may just as well appoint him as executive secretary. Secretary Ochoa, whose government experience should not go to naught, can be laterally promoted,” he said.
“There is no room for a chief of staff in the Philippines and historically, such an office has never been created or experimented because we already have an executive secretary,” Arroyo said.
Under the Administrative Code of 1987, the executive secretary is the head of the executive office and also exercises supervision and control over the various units in the Office of the President, Arroyo noted.
Sen. Miriam Defensor-Santiago echoed Arroyo’s concern, saying Roxas’ appointment could be a “recipe for disaster” since there is no chief of staff under the present structure of the Office of the President.
Santiago said Roxas’ appointment might also derail his bid for the presidency in the 2016 elections.
“So I am very puzzled with this development. It’s not exactly a surefire recipe for disaster, it’s very close to that. Unless the lines are carefully drawn, I think that Mar Roxas as of this time is about to give up the presidency six years from now. That will be the effect,” Santiago said.
“Whatever happened to Roxas for President? He’s going to be part of a bureaucracy within the Palace and the public will have no access to him,” Santiago added.
But for Sen. Ralph Recto, a stalwart of the Liberal Party, the “long-awaited return” of Roxas to government service “heralds the reunification of the tandem that has promised in May 2010 to bring meaningful changes to the Filipino people.”
“Mar’s presence in the Aquino Cabinet should translate to more healthy and no holds barred debates immune from petty factionalism,” Recto said.
Recto said Roxas’ background as economist, legislator and Cabinet official would “decisively enrich the doctrines of governance that is anchored on empowering the poor and cutting down excesses.”
“Mar truly speaks his mind and I’m sure there will be no shortage of ears willing to listen to him in the Palace,” he said. “I am not saying this because we wear the same yellow jersey and he is my party captain, I am saying this because I know an asset when I see one.”
Malacañang welcomes Roxas
Presidential Communications Development and Strategic Planning Office Secretary Ricky Carandang said they are ready to welcome Roxas in Malacañang, downplaying speculations that his entry to the Cabinet would only fan the reported factionalism within the administration.
Carandang said they are just waiting for the administrative order defining Roxas’ job and functions.
“He is welcome… Senator Mar is ready to get into the Cabinet and we are also all ready to accept him,” Carandang said over Radio Mindanao Network.
He stressed that the supposed rivalry between Roxas and Ochoa was only part of the “intrigues.”
Ochoa had been reported to be part of the so-called Samar group that supported then Makati City mayor Jejomar Binay for vice president instead of Roxas, the President’s running mate and part of the Balay Group.
Carandang gave assurance that Roxas’ position would be properly defined so it would not overlap with the functions of Ochoa and Presidential Management Staff chief Julia Abad.
“There are a lot of intrigues. But the reason why an AO is being drafted is to clarify everything, not just to the Cabinet but also to the public as to what Senator Roxas’ role would be exactly. Once the administrative order is out, all these intrigues will be gone and everything will become clear,” Carandang said. – Aurea Calica