Arroyo’s campaign manager goes on leave

Presidential Legislative Liaison Office (PLLO) head Secretary Gabriel Claudio will go on an official leave of absence before the official campaign period begins on Feb. 10.

Claudio is the campaign manager of President Arroyo, who is seeking a full six-year term of office, as well as of the administration Koalisyon ng Katapatan at Karanasan sa Kinabukasan (K-4).

He told The STAR yesterday that his deputy, Catherine Bello, will be the PLLO officer-in-charge while he is on leave.

The official leave, he said, "will be effective before the start of the campaign period. Anyway, Congress will be in recess."

Both chambers of Congress adjourn on Feb. 6 for the campaign recess and will resume in June.

Claudio said Housing and Urban Development Coordinating Council (HUDCC) chairman Michael Defensor is merely on a temporary leave of absence because his father-in-law died Saturday. Defensor is Mrs. Arroyo’s official campaign spokesman.

Defensor said his father-in-law, Dolorfino Tactacan, 63, died of a heart attack. Defensor’s wife, Julie, is the youngest of Tactacan’s five daughters.

Tactacan’s remains lie in state at the Christ the King chapel in greenmeadows, Quezon City. He will be buried at the Manila Memorial Gradens in Sucat, Parañaque City tomorrow.

Defensor said he will also remain part of the President’s campaign team and will not run for his old congressional seat in Quezon City in lieu of his sister Maite, whose child is sick and undergoing treatment in the United States.

"Although my sister, Maite, has this minor problem, the family decided that I should stick with the President at this time of the campaign to help her," Defensor said.

Before he goes on his leave, however, Claudio said Mrs. Arroyo will be able to sign into law at least five socio-economic bills that were certified as urgent by the Palace. These measures, he said, are already being printed into enrolled bills.

These are: the Optical Media bill; a measure for the improvement of the Health Insurance Law; a bill facilitating the legitimation of illegitimate children; the Magna Carta on the Elderly, and a measure criminalizing domestic violence.

"We are just awaiting the enrolled copies of these bills for signing into law by the President," he said.

Claudio however clarified that it is not mandatory for him to go on leave as he slips into the role of campaign manager for the administration coalition.

"As long as Cabinet members are able to balance their time between their regular functions as Cabinet officials and helping in the President’s campaign — that’s allowed by law," he said. "But, just the same, I am taking a leave of absence."

Claudio is the latest member of the Arroyo Cabinet to go on official leave of absence in connection with their desire to take an active role in the President’s campaign.

Presidential Management Staff (PMS) Secretary Silvestre Afable Jr. was the first Cabinet member to go on leave since Jan. 1, while former Chief Presidential Legal Counsel Avelino Cruz resigned his post to join the President’s campaign team.

Claudio said Afable is engaged in the K-4 communications group, while Cruz is part of the K-4 legal team at the coalition’s headquarters on the third floor of the Philippine Development Alternatives Foundation (PDAF) building along Sen. Gil Puyat Avenue corner EDSA in Makati City.

Others involved in the President’s campaign are: adviser on media and ecclesiastical affairs Conrado Limcaoco; liaison on political affairs and Lakas-Christian Muslim Democrats (Lakas-CMD) national executive committee executive director Jose Rufino, and adviser on official development assistance (ODA) Marita Jimenez, among others.

There is no official word whether or not these Cabinet officials will also go on leave for the duration of the campaign period.

Claudio denied reports (not in The STAR) that the President plans to implement a Cabinet revamp, saying "kuyryente ‘yon (that’s misinformation)!"

Executive Secretary Alberto Romulo also vehemently denied rumors of a Cabinet revamp, which he branded as a "brazen lie."

"Nobody has interviewed me or (Presidential Spokesman Ignacio) Bunye. There is no such thing as these purported ‘reliable sources’" making statements about the rumored Cabinet revamp, Romulo said.

Press Secretary Milton Alingod told dzMM radio that the President has not issued any official appointments for any Cabinet reshuffle.

Deputy Presidential Spokesman Ricardo Saludo likewise strongly denied the rumors, saying "there is no Cabinet revamp."

Saludo said there will be a regular Cabinet meeting at the Palace today, over which Romulo will preside.

In a press briefing at the Palace, Saludo said some Cabinet members have the "option" to go on official leaves of absence if they want to devote their time to helping in Mrs. Arroyo’s campaign. "They do not need to resign," he said.

Saludo said he only heard about plans by Cabinet officials to go on leave from Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) general manager Edgar Manda.

Manda announced his desire to help in the President’s campaign on a full-time basis.

"That (taking a leave) is an option that is open to any official but, as I said, certainly there is no requirement for any official to go on leave to campaign for anyone," Saludo said.

Manda is the chairman of the President’s Lualhati Foundation and is one of her closest advisers.