Roxas won't be asked to drop electoral protest vs Binay

Manila, Philippines - Former Sen. Manuel Roxas II will be in Malacañang by June and there is no need for him to drop his electoral protest against Vice President Jejomar Binay before he assumes office, deputy presidential spokesperson Abigail Valte said yesterday.

In an interview over radio dzRB, Valte said President Aquino and Roxas met on Friday but details of their meeting could not be disclosed.

Valte said the President had announced that the Administrative Order (AO) delineating the functions of Roxas would be out in two weeks.

She said given such timetable, Roxas would be at the Palace by June.

Valte also said that there was no reason to ask Roxas to drop his electoral protest against Binay because there were no personal differences between the two.

“We’re all in the same team and we’re willing to work for the reform agenda of the President. Maybe it should stop there,” she said.

Valte stressed it would be “unfair to equate, to predict or to assume” that Roxas’ position would overlap with the functions of the other officials at Palace.

“Again, this is precisely the reason why we are working to prevent any overlapping of functions. I think we’ve said it before, it’s better to wait for the contents of the AO and these fears (of factionalism and power struggle) should just be laid to rest with the commitment from the officials concerned that we all play for the same team, we work for the same President and because of that we push the same (agenda),” she said.

Valte said the President had decided on the functions of Roxas but the AO would have to be fine-tuned and checked with the roles of the executive secretary and the Presidential Management Staff chief.

The one-year ban on the appointment of candidates who ran and lost in the 2010 elections lapsed last May 10.

Discord in the making

However, the opposition in the House of Representatives has urged President Aquino to rethink his decision to appoint Roxas as his chief of staff.

Minority leader Edcel Lagman said that although Roxas is qualified for the post the President intends to create for him, his entry in Malacañang could promote discord rather than unity among its officials.

“But it’s the Chief Executive’s own lookout if he wants his defeated vice presidential running mate to be one of his principal Palace aides,” he said.

Another opposition congressman, Marc Douglas Cagas of Davao del Sur, said Roxas’ appointment “will surely worsen the turf war between the Balay and Samar groups of supporters of the President.”

“We all know that these two factions have been fighting for turf as could be gleaned from the number of appointees to juicy positions that each group has been able to wangle from their Palace boss,” he said.

Roxas heads the Balay group composed mostly of members of the ruling Liberal Party, while Executive Secretary Paquito Ochoa Jr. leads the Samar group, comprised of lawyers who helped then Sen. Benigno Aquino III in his campaign for the presidency.

Sen. Joker Arroyo, who served as executive secretary during the term of the President’s mother, the late President Corazon Aquino, has said there would be confusion if Roxas were named chief of staff.                                            

He said there is no chief of staff position in the Palace and the Administrative Code provides only for the post of executive secretary.

Plan unclear

Arroyo said if the President proceeds with his plan to appoint Roxas, it would be unclear if he would be under Ochoa, who is supposed to be the second-in-command in Malacañang and in the government after the chief executive.

Albay Gov. Joey Salceda, who once served as chief of staff of then President Arroyo, agreed with Sen. Arroyo.

Salceda said during his Palace days, he reported and deferred to then Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita.     –With Jess Diaz