President Benigno Aquino III has decided to "thresh out" the supposed feud between a key member of his Cabinet and a subordinate, saying that their focus should be on nation-building and not “intramurals."
Aquino said he will meet with Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) Secretary Jesse Robredo and DILG undersecretary Rico E. Puno on Sunday night or Monday morning.
“Sometimes… things were said that perhaps were not taken in the proper context. Or he (Puno) wasn't also able to convey what he was thinking of at the time, said Aquino in an interview with reporters.
“So that's why I want to sit down with both of them and something like that is not proper behavior for members of the Cabinet," he said.
"We are building the nation, and this should be our focus. But how will we fix our country, how will we improve the lot of our poorest brethren? We have no time for intramurals," added the President.
Puno, who is the President's long-time friend and shooting buddy, had prominently figured earlier in two recent inquiries, on the August 23 hostage-taking and on jueteng payola.
In a newspaper interview last Thursday, the DILG undersecretary said that five groups had fed information to retired Lingayen-Dagupan Archbishop Oscar Cruz that he is among the recipients of jueteng payoffs.
The embattled undersecretary then said these groups include the one headed by Robredo, the "Balay" group, the "Samar" group, a fourth group composed of people interested in his post, and a fifth group affiliated with former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.
The Balay and Samar cliques are supposedly the warring factions composed of supporters of defeated Liberal Party vice presidential bet Manuel “Mar" Roxas, on one side, and supporters of incumbent Vice President Jejomar Binay on the other side.
Robredo's group, Kaya Natin! Movement for Good Governance and Ethical Leadership, had already denied being behind a demolition job against Puno.
Malacañang, through deputy presidential spokesperson Abigail Valte, told reporters on Saturday that it is up to Puno to support his claims that groups are out to malign him.
When the report of the Incident Investigation and Review Committee (IIRC) was submitted to Aquino before the start of his working visit to the United States in late September, Puno was at the top of a list of 13 persons recommended for sanctions over the hostage fiasco. (See: IIRC asks public to be patient as Palace reviews recommendations)
The release of the IIRC report and the jueteng controversy that nearly coincided last month led to Puno’s offer to resign once President Aquino returns from a working visit to the United States. But Aquino refused to accept the courtesy resignation, saying Puno is entitled to due process.
Last week, Puno retracted his earlier pronouncements and said he will no longer step down from office because Aquino told him to stay on.
At the same time, while Aquino conceded some lapses on the part of his long-time friend and shooting-range buddy, the President also maintained that there is a “campaign to disparage the reputation" of Puno. (See: Aquino admits DILG's Puno had lapses but...)
Puno and Robredo have both received flak over the role of DILG, which has civilian administrative supervision of the Philippine National Police, in the mishandling of August 23 hostage crisis in Manila that left eight Hong Kong nationals dead.
Puno is the undersecretary tasked to supervise the PNP even as he had admitted he has no background in actual law enforcement and in the strategy and management of crises such as the August 23 incident. (See: DILG Usec Puno is gun enthusiast, longtime PNoy friend)
On Sunday, Aquino declined to say whether he intends to keep both Robredo and Puno is government, although he assured the public he will discuss the matter on Monday.
“Can I make an announcement by tomorrow (Monday)? ... We'll be having a meeting. I don't want to preempt the meeting. So can I just tell you by tomorrow (Monday)?"
No more Mr. Nice Guy
Meanwhile, administration ally Sen. Francisco Pangilinan told President Aquino to address the problem of warring factions in his government.
"PNoy must crack the whip and tell all those surrounding him that given the serious problems facing the country, without unity there is no way his administration can succeed. I know he has it in him to do so, and now is the time to do it. No more Mr. Nice Guy," the Liberal Party senator said in a statement.
Pangilinan, however, declined to confirm whether the warring factions he referred to are the Balay and Samar groups.—JV
