P-Noy 'style' with his Cabinet

LOS ANGELES — Less than 48 hours after I left Manila, my mobile phone kept ringing and text messages kept coming in after “reports” of the purported resignation from the Cabinet of Transportation and Communications Secretary Jose “Ping” de Jesus.

Not knowing I am currently out of the country, a number of people tried to verify the “reports” from me. Obviously, they thought I, as a news editor, should immediately know the details about it.

The reported resignation of one of the key Cabinet advisers of President Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III reached me here as soon it came out in Manila. Thanks to the wonders of information technology, through Yahoo and social networking sites such as Twitter, I get updates and breaking news in Manila via Internet access on my mobile phone.       

De Jesus’ resignation was first confirmed by his undersecretary, Dante Velasco. As the concurrent official spokesman of the DOTC, Velasco confirmed De Jesus’ resignation during an interview over dzBB radio, preempting the official announcement from Malacañang Palace.

Velasco claimed knowing De Jesus resigned due to personal reasons, but did not elaborate. Velasco gave credence to reports about De Jesus having handed his resignation letter to President Aquino last Monday afternoon.

Now that the cat is out of the bag, so to speak, the Palace subsequently confirmed De Jesus’ resignation from the Cabinet and that the President had accepted it. The resignation of the DOTC secretary would take effect though on June 30 when the Aquino administration observes its first year in office.

The resigned DOTC secretary first served in various Cabinet posts during the six-year administration of President Aquino’s late mother, former President Cory Aquino. The last Cory Cabinet post that De Jesus held was secretary of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH).

I could only recall with much admiration how De Jesus fought by his lonesome self the legal battles on the graft cases filed against him as DPWH secretary. De Jesus was subsequently cleared by the Sandiganbayan which dismissed all these graft cases as nothing but trumped-up charges.

De Jesus bore the brunt of angry unscrupulous DPWH contractors who lost their bids on the flyover projects that he completed all over Metro Manila under the Cory administration. It was meant to leave behind something more tangent like infrastructure projects which the Filipino people could remember as a legacy of the Cory government.

After his stint in the Cory Cabinet, De Jesus returned to the private sector. Years later, he joined as one of the vice presidents of the Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co. (PLDT) run then by Cory’s nephew Tonyboy Cojuangco. When Metro Pacific Corp. led by businessman Manny V. Pangilinan bought majority ownership of PLDT, De Jesus was recruited to head the Lopez-owned Manila North Tollways Corp. (MNTC).

Later, the MNTC was also bought by Pangilinan. The Lopez Group of Companies retained the services of De Jesus and moved him over to become the president of their erstwhile crown jewel, utility firm Meralco. As if the movement of De Jesus was being followed by Metro Pacific Corp., the majority control of Meralco was also bought by Pangilinan.

Ironically, De Jesus quit from the Cabinet on the heels of the President’s directive to the Department of Science and Technology (DOST) and the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) to take over from the DOTC the government review of the controversial merger of PLDT-Smart and Digitel. This was after the PLDT acquired the majority control of the former Gokongwei telecom firm now being questioned by PLDT-Smart’s rival, Globe Telecom.    

De Jesus was still with Meralco when he could not say “no” to the request of P-Noy to help him in his Cabinet. As they agreed upon, De Jesus, who is now past 70, wanted to quietly enjoy retirement from the daily grind of the high-pressure jobs he had handled through these years.  

Speaking to Palace reporters upon his return from his state visit to Thailand last week, P-Noy hinted that another Cabinet member might get a pink slip from him soon. This triggered another round of Cabinet revamp rumors and then the reported resignation of De Jesus.

Methinks that’s the style of P-Noy to shoot his mouth off first before he officially fires or accepts the courtesy resignation of his Cabinet member. Former Foreign Affairs secretary Alberto Romulo was the first one to learn P-Noy’s “style” of parting ways with his Cabinet officials.

Incidentally, De Jesus’ exit from the P-Noy Cabinet came after the Commission on Appointments (CA) confirmed the remaining few P-Noy Cabinet officials whose nominations had remained pending. Foreign Affairs Secretary Albert del Rosario, who took over from Romulo, and Agrarian Reform Secretary Virgilio de los Reyes hurdled the CA a week before the 15th Congress adjourns sine die.

There is no right or wrong “style” of doing it. But it’s certainly the President’s prerogative as the appointing authority to hire and fire any Cabinet member. As appointive officials who have delicadeza like to say, they serve at the pleasure of the Chief Executive as the appointing authority. Thus, one’s tenure in office is a matter of trust and confidence between the President and his appointee.

But it’s a different case with De Jesus, who was the Cabinet official to first call it quits with the President. As the two of them originally agreed before he decided to serve in a Cabinet post again, De Jesus would only stay during the one-year transition of the new administration to help get it up and running in the “style” and way of how P-Noy wants to do it. De Jesus has helped the best way he could.

P-Noy must do the rest with the men and women who he would name to his new Cabinet. But as the team leader, P-Noy needs to steer his Cabinet in the direction where he can realize his campaign promises. This we shall wait in the remaining five years of P-Noy’s term in office.