Coloma bids farewell

MANILA, Philippines – Press Secretary Herminio Coloma Jr. bid farewell to the Malacañang Press Corps yesterday, recalling the many challenges he faced under the Aquino administration.

“If I may quote Richard Bach, author of Jonathan Livingston Seagull, ‘Don’t be dismayed by goodbyes. Farewell is necessary so we can say hello again. And meeting again, after moments or lifetimes, is certain for those who are friends’,” he told reporters.

Undersecretaries Rey Marfil, Jess Yu, Zandro Sison and Assistant Secretary Jo Paolo Espiritu joined him in the last press briefing he held at the second floor of the New Executive Building inside the palace.

Spokespersons Edwin Lacierda and Abigail Valte were absent. Both left their posts before joining the presidential campaign of Liberal Party standard-bearer Mar Roxas.  

“As many of us will be setting off on new directions and new destinations, allow me to share with you this Irish prayer for travelers: may the roads rise up to meet you, may the wind be always at your back, and may the rains fall gently upon your fields,” said Coloma, who supervised the state media for the full six-year term of President Aquino.

He recounted the challenges he faced as Aquino’s mouthpiece, including the infamous August 2010 Luneta hostage incident that left eight Hong Kong tourists dead; the November 2015 Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Manila; the January 2015 papal visit of Pope Francis and the controversial disbursement acceleration program and Mamasapano tragedy that led to the killing of 44 police Special Action Force men.

Status quo and reorganizations

At the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH), outgoing Secretary Rogelio Singson said undersecretary for regional operations Romeo Momo, who is the most senior official left in the agency, would become the officer-in-charge while waiting for Las Piñas Rep. Mark Villar.

Villar would first have to take his oath as re-elected congressman of Las Piñas and relinquish it before assuming as public works secretary.

“Under the administrative code, whoever is the most senior (would be the OIC) and that is Usec. Momo… that is automatic even if there is no paper. I can no longer designate anyone because it would only be effective until noontime of June 30,” Singson said.

Villar and Singson have been holding meetings on the status and developments in the department.

“Mark is aware of the situation because I have been briefing him weekly and I have been introducing him to the regional directors, the management committee and the district engineers of the National Capital Region. I gave him a report on the pending projects and the projects that he could continue,” Singson said, adding that Villar was “rather uncomfortable” with the technical aspect of running the DPWH.

“I told him that I am also not a hardcore civil engineer. He is also a management graduate. He will rely on the technical people for the technical advice,” Singson also said. 

He hopes Villar would “protect the integrity of the employees” and “would not remove our people just because a favored contractor wanted someone else. I am sure that he (Villar) would not do that.” 

At the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE), officials and employees can heave a sigh of relief for now as incoming secretary Silvestre Bello II assured them he would not call a reorganization when he assumes office tomorrow.

“Usually, when I come into a department, I live with the people there. Initially, my intention is to keep all of them,” Bello said, adding that he would call for a performance audit instead and wait for the results.

He said he would only call for a reorganization if the audit would call for it.

The other day, Bello met with outgoing Labor Secretary Rosalinda Baldoz, who promised to assist and guide the new secretary during the transition.

They discussed measures to stop contractualization and other programs that would benefit millions of overseas Filipino workers, including the establishment of a separate department for OFWs that is currently being studied.

“We have to make a study and consult the appropriate sector before making a recommendation,” Bello said when asked to comment on president-elect Rodrigo Duterte’s announcement to create a department for OFWs.

“She (Baldoz) said she will send me a one- or two-page briefer,” Bello noted.

He is yet to decide on whether to hold office at the Occupational Safety and Health Center in Quezon City or at the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration in Mandaluyong City, both attached agencies of DOLE.

Meanwhile, the promotion of Antonio Sales triggered a minor revamp at the Department of Science and Technology (DOST), where he is director for Region 11 or Davao region.

Department sources told The STAR that Sales would become the undersecretary for regional operations.

Undersecretary Carol Yorobe would head the scientific and technological services while Undersecretary Rowena Guevara takes the research and development portfolio.

At the Department of National Defense, outgoing Secretary Voltaire Gazmin remains confident that his successor – retired Army general Delfin Lorenzana – will sustain the modernization program of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP).

Incoming president Duterte earlier criticized the decision of the Aquino government to buy a squadron of supersonic FA-50 fighter jets.

He said the country could benefit more from modern helicopters with night operation capabilities that could be used as an anti-kidnapping instrument in relation to the spate of kidnappings done by terrorist groups against foreigners.

The procurement of the jets is a waste of funds, he added, as the military needs to bolster its internal defense capabilities, the same defense and military approach taken by the Arroyo administration.

Gazmin said he is confident that Lorenzana, who served as special representative for Veterans Affairs and headed the Office of Veterans Affairs of the Philippine embassy in the US, would be able to sustain the modernization programs done under the Aquino government. – With Evelyn Macairan, Mayen Jaymalin, Rainier Allan Ronda, Jaime Laude