Posturing for a post

Time flies fast indeed. In a matter of exactly 27 days from now, it’s over! I mean, the one-year ban for all those who ran but lost in the May 10 elections last year lapses already by next month. Therefore, they could now be appointed to government posts. That is, if they are the lucky losers who happen to be partymates and allies of the appointing authority, President Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III. As the highest elected official of the Liberal Party (LP), P-Noy holds the key to the resurrection of their political careers.

About a couple of weeks ago, Executive Secretary Paquito “Jojo” Ochoa told us over dinner with media practitioners, there is about 30 percent left of the vacancies in various government offices that P-Noy has yet to fill. It includes vacancies in government-owned and controlled corporations. So that means Malacañang Palace has so far processed about 70 percent of new P-Noy appointees who were installed into office for the past nine months of his administration.

While waiting for that one-year ban to lapse, many so far appointed by P-Noy were former Cabinet and government officials also during the administration of his late mother, former President Corazon Aquino. Some of them are Transportation Secretary Jose de Jesus, Defense Secretary Voltaire Gazmin, Public Works Secretary Rogelio Singson, Budget Secretary Florencio Abad, Economic Planning Secretary Cayetano Paderanga, presidential communications office secretary Herminio Coloma Jr., and PCSO chairperson Margarita Juico.

P-Noy has also named in key positions former Arroyo Cabinet officials like Finance Secretary Cesar Purisima, Social Welfare and Development Secretary Corazon “Dinky” Soliman, Justice Secretary Leila de Lima, and presidential adviser on the peace process Ding Deles. Except for De Lima, Purisima, Soliman and Deles belong to the so-called “Hyatt 10,” or the 10 ex-Cabinet officials of Mrs. Arroyo who left her in July 2005 after the infamous “Hello, Garci” scandal.

A greater number of administration appointees in various government posts were also former Ateneo de Manila classmates of P-Noy. They include Energy Secretary Jose Rene Almendras, Pagcor chairman and CEO Cristino Naguiat Jr., Chito Cruz as general manager of the National Housing Authority, Clemente Diaz Eulalio III as chief of the Land Registration Authority just to mention some.

The vacancies, or the supposed available positions arose with the removal from office of the so-called “midnight appointees” of former President Arroyo, as well as those under the category of co-terminus officials of the previous administration. 

This was after P-Noy issued on July 30 last year Executive Order (EO) No. 2 that removed all these “midnight appointees.” EO 2, however, had been questioned before the Supreme Court (SC).

Aside from EO 2, another source of vacancies in the government being filled now by the Aquino administration came from Memorandum Circular No. 1 (MC No. 1). It was issued just a few hours after Mr. Aquino took his oath as President on June 30 last year.

The Palace identified at least 977 appointments made on or before March 10, 2010 by Mrs. Arroyo in all branches of government as covered by EO 2. However, the resolution whether EO 2 was valid and legal remains pending at the SC.

This first official memo circular coming out from the Palace declared vacant all non-career executive service positions (CESO) as of June 30, 2010 and extending the services of contractual employees while allowing those with contracts to serve until their terms of employment lapse.

Civil Service Commission chairman Dr. Francisco Duque estimated last year that MC-1, as subsequently amended, would affect about 3,007, or 89 percent of all presidential appointees by the past administration. Of the 3,007 appointees, 357 are co-terminus with Ms. Arroyo, and 831 are holding career executive positions but are not CESO eligible. The memo will not apply to the other 1,425 Arroyo appointees, 1,242 of which are CESO eligible and 183 who have fixed terms.

These figures may no longer be correct from that time on since P-Noy has been appointing and swearing into office his own people and replacing those still holding on to their government posts. But in the specific case of presidential aunt, Margarita “Tingting” Cojuangco, the Executive Secretary clarified it was her own initiative to quit as head of the Philippine Public Safety College (PPSC). Cojuangco confirmed that she indeed “resigned out of delicadeza.”

By accepting Cojuangco’s resignation, the Executive Secretary cited, it affirms P-Noy’s campaign promise not to appoint a relative to any government post. During the presidential campaign last year, one of the issues foisted against the candidacy of Mr. Aquino is the return of the so-called Kamag-anak Inc., or the pejorative term on presidential relatives who figured prominently in the affairs of government during the administration of P-Noy’s late mother.

Whether she was replaced or she resigned, Cojuangco is among ex-President Arroyo’s co-terminus appointees who were supposed to resign per P-Noy’s directives. She was appointed PPSC head in 2004.

Incidentally, Ochoa himself is not spared from the hisses coming from the Palace snake pit where he is accused of having his own relatives and classmates appointed in the P-Noy administration. Department of Science and Technology Secretary Mario Montejo is a brother-in-law of Ochoa. His detractors came up with a new meaning for “CESO” as “classmates of Executive Secretary Ochoa.”

This is, of course, not true, Ochoa swears. He explained that some of P-Noy’s appointees happen to be at one time or another his classmates too in certain subjects in school. While he may be the so-called “little President,” Ochoa is not the appointing authority. But he could recommend nominees, though.

As the one-year ban draws near, such sniping at the Executive Secretary may escalate. There have been discernible stepped-up efforts by those “waiting in the wings” to be noticed by the appointing authority. Of course, by doing such stunts that get media play, it also calls the attention of the appointing authority.

There is no need to mention them because these people have been all over the place and doing high profile posturing just to hug the limelight. We shall see soon enough who gets what post.