Noy: I have the power to fire
By Delon Porcalla (The Philippine Star) Updated June 11, 2010 12:00 AM
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MANILA, Philippines - President-elect Benigno ”Noynoy” Aquino III warned the so-called midnight appointees
of outgoing President Arroyo that he has the power to fire government officials.
“If I have the power to hire, it only follows that I also have the power to fire,” Aquino said.
He issued the warning to Mrs. Arroyo’s midnight appointees who, by some estimates, could number around
4,000.
“The basic principle here, and I think all of us will agree, is that the power to appoint carries with it the power
to dismiss. That has been decided in so many precedent-setting cases,” Aquino told a news conference last
Wednesday.
Contrary to pronouncements of Mrs. Arroyo that the incoming president has to make more than 1,000
political appointments, Sen. Edgardo Angara – a short-lived executive secretary during the time of deposed
President Joseph Estrada – disclosed there are in fact 5,000 posts.
Aquino said he will be “reviewing and making an inventory” of all the government posts that need to be filled
as soon as he assumes office on June 30.
“The bottom line here is to review all these and determine if there are 1,000, 4,000 or 5,000 government
positions,” he said.
“I will probably ask all of these people to give me a free hand in reorganizing all of the positions attributable
to presidential appointees. Nothing will happen if, at the start, we would have some who would follow and
some who would not,” he said.
“We’re curious about the discrepancy. Even at this point, my executive secretary and our legal teams are
studying all these appointments and conducting the inventory to determine how many we need to appoint
and possibly review those granted fixed terms (by GMA),” he added.
There are reportedly 259 confirmed midnight appointments.
Re-elected senator Franklin Drilon, an ally of Aquino in the Liberal Party, declared that there is sufficient legal
basis to challenge Mrs. Arroyo's recent appointments, even if they were made before the two-month
prohibition period on midnight appointments.
"The recent statement of Aquino spokesman Edwin Lacierda that the new president finds both malice and
bad faith in Arroyo's rash of appointments since it intends to stifle the next administration appears to be
laying the legal groundwork for such revocation," Drilon said.
Drilon, who also served as justice secretary during the time of former President Ramos, said even if the
appointments were made before the ban on March 10 or two months before elections, these could still be
challenged.
Mrs. Arroyo named 170 people to important posts from March 1 to March 9, according to reports. Drilon cited
Article VII Section 15 of the Constitution, which prohibits the practice of midnight appointments by an
outgoing president.
"The power to appoint is essentially an executive function and is thus conferred by the Constitution on the
president. The power, however, is not absolute," Drilon said, adding that the acceptance of the appointee
should also have been before the prescribed ban.
Drilon said Mrs. Arroyo's father President Diosdado Macapagal cancelled his predecessor President Carlos
Garcia's midnight appointments, numbering 350, which was upheld by the Supreme Court in 1962 .
No position for Binay yet
Aquino said he has no position in mind yet for vice president-elect Jejomar Binay, who had said he wanted
to be the Department of the Interior and Local Government secretary.
"It's important that we have a harmonious relationship but at the end of the day, it is the president that bears
responsibility for the government," Aquino said.
He added they would still have to talk about Binay's request at the appropriate time so "it won't be an issue."
"I have several candidates for the position. I will be talking with the vice president-elect and we will come to
something mutually agreeable," Aquino said.
Aquino also met yesterday with Manila Electric Co. president and chief operating officer Jose "Ping" de
Jesus, former Manila North Tollways Corp. president and public works secretary during the time of Aquino's
mother, former President Corazon Aquino.
De Jesus will reportedly be appointed secretary of the Department of Transportation and Communications.
He said he is ready to help in Aquino's government and that he was used to the salary of a public official, but
refused to say what position was offered to him.
Aquino's future executive secretary, Pacquito "Jojo" Ochoa Jr., the current Quezon City administrator, also
faced the media and said they were now busy attending to the nominees in the Cabinet.
Aquino also announced that his chief of staff Julia Abad would be appointed to head some office once he
assumes the presidency.
Ochoa said they were evaluating the names proposed by various people and that they were gearing toward
the transition.
He said he was to present the road map to the presidency on July 1, including the inauguration.
"We have yet to determine the exact venue of the inauguration. We are considering two
locations, Luneta Park and Quezon Memorial Circle in Quezon City. I think we are more inclined to pick
Quezon Memorial Circle because of its historical value, being the monument of our first president," Ochoa
said.
Ochoa said he was ready to assist Aquino and keep as low a profile as he possibly could.
"Nobody knew about me for the nine years I was city administrator of Quezon City, and I think I can do my
best to protect my boss. In the case of Quezon City it was Mayor (Feliciano) Belmonte. People around the
boss should maintain a low profile so the real boss gets to be in the limelight, not the guys behind him," he
said.
"We all know it's very difficult to be going public and suddenly contradicting your boss. I'd rather be careful
with those things and if there will be future major announcements maybe that will be the time I have to go
out, but only if that's really necessary. We have a spokesperson. My theory is, the spokesperson should be
the one doing the talking, not the executive secretary," he said.
PNP chief to pay courtesy call on Aquino
Philippine National Police (PNP) chief Director General Jesus Verzosa will no longer submit his courtesy
resignation and will instead pay a courtesy call on Aquino, who had earlier announced his decision to retain
the PNP chief.
"It seems that it would be from courtesy resignation to courtesy call," said PNP spokesman Chief
Superintendent Leonardo Espina.
"It has become moot and academic with the pronouncement of our beloved president-elect Aquino, so it has
already served its purpose by the declaration," said Espina.
During a press conference after he was proclaimed, Aquino said he would likely keep Verzosa, who was
one of the first members of the Cabinet of President Arroyo to announce he would resign as soon as the
new president takes his oath.
Espina said Verzosa is glad to learn about the official pronouncement made by Aquino that he would allow
him to stay as PNP chief.
Espina said Verzosa would be meeting Mrs. Arroyo on Tuesday at Camp Crame in Quezon City for the
farewell parade for the outgoing Commander-in-Chief. - With Aurea Calica, Cecille Suerte Felipe, Jerry Botial
and Mike Frialde
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