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 - By Delon Porcalla
