(Isang tanong, why can't we just "throw GMA overboard" na lang. She's the main reason kung bakit palubog na ng palubog ang bansa natin eh.)
Tuesday, 09 14, 2004
President Arroyo is losing her allies in both the Executive and Legislative departments, with National Treasurer Mina Figueroa as the latest ally to leave her government as she reportedly submitted her resignation yesterday effective at month's end.
Her resignation is said to have stemmed from policy differences with the President who is grappling with the fiscal crisis plaguing her government (See Business for related story).
Earlier Finance Undersecretary Eric Recto also submitted his resignation but was said to have been prevailed upon to stay by the President. It is the second time Recto has tried to resign from his post. The first time was shortly after then Finance Chief Jose Isidro Camacho made a surprise move by announcing his resignation without giving advance notice to Mrs. Arroyo.
In Congress, at least two allies of the President announced their resignation from the administration party posts, following the congressional resignation of Zambales Rep. Antonio Diaz, who said he was quitting his membership in the House, as it is no longer an “august” body, while warning that Congress is in a state of collapse.
All three blasted away at the leadership of Speaker Jose de Venecia, with Rep. Rodolfo Albano stating he is “fed up” with De Venecia's style of leadership and will be joining the minority bloc in the House of Representatives. Surigao del Norte Rep. Ace Barbers also yesterday resigned his post as spokesman of the House, explaining that the House spokesman's position should be handled by a non-member of the House, adding being a spokesman also hampers his legislative agenda. “The spokesman's job should not be handled by a politician and I don't think I can do justice to that job.”
Barbers claimed it is difficult for him to speak for the House, particularly at this time when the issue over the “pork barrel” controversy has affected the House.
He pointed out that the existing Public Relations and Information Department of the House should be able to do the job of propping up the image of the House, but said the PRID is focused “only on the image of the Speaker.
Albano, son of former congressman and now Energy Regulatory Commission chief Rodolfo Albano, was more direct, saying he is quitting the coalition as he is dissatisfied with the leadership of De Venecia.
Last Thursday, Diaz submitted his resignation to De Venecia, saying he is not satisfied with the way De Venecia runs the House, which he said is crumbling.
UPDATE: Two more resignations!
Two more resignations in the Executive branch followed in the wake of National Treasurer Mina Figueroa's quit move as National Power Corp. (Napocor) president Rogelio Murga and Bureau of Corrections (BuCor) director, former Armed Forces Chief of Staff Dionisio Santiago, yesterday also signified their “irrevocable” move to resign from the Arroyo government.
More resignations are expected to follow from the Cabinet, but these officials intending to resign are said to be waiting for the “right time,” sources told the Tribune also yesterday, signaling the continuing abandonment of support for Mrs. Arroyo and her administration.
Senate President Franklin Drilon, the President's pointman in the Senate, yesterday, appealed to the media not to put a spin on the resignation of Figueroa, saying this will only cause more apprehensions over the financial condition of the country, and may scare off creditors and investors. He stressed that Figueroa had resigned due to personal reasons.
Figueroa herself reiterated before the Senate that she had resigned for personal reasons.
Applying damage control, as these resignations are seen as the start of President Arroyo's allies' withdrawal of support from her, Malacañang was quick to claim that Napocor's Murga was not resigning, but retiring, having reached the age of 70 last month.
The retirement age for career officials is 65, not 70, and Murga is an appointee, not a career official, which means he is not subject to age limitations.
Murga was reportedly prevailed upon to stay until December by the President.
It was not explained by the Palace why there had to be an announcement of Murga's “retirement” at this time, since this is to still take effect in December.
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