Saludo gives up one post; PRC chief quits

President Arroyo accepted yesterday the resignation of Cabinet Secretary Ricardo Saludo from his concurrent post as deputy presidential spokesman.

Presidential Spokesman Ignacio Bunye also confirmed the resignation of Professional Regulations Commission (PRC) chief Antonietta Ibe on July 8. Ibe was recently replaced by former Technical Education and Skills Development Academy (TESDA) chief Alcetis Guiang.

Bunye said Saludo had requested President Arroyo that he be allowed to give up his post as deputy spokesman.

Saludo’s resignation came a day after he locked horns with Senate President Franklin Drilon over the proposal to put a cap on the country’s foreign borrowings as part of the government’s fiscal program.

"With his increased work in overseeing Cabinet meetings, monitoring priority directives of the President as Cabinet secretary and his additional load as acting head of the Presidential Management Staff (PMS), Secretary Ricardo Saludo has been allowed by the President to relinquish his post as deputy presidential spokesperson," Bunye said.

Mrs. Arroyo has designated Saludo as "acting head" of the PMS.

PMS chief Rigoberto Tiglao is recuperating after undergoing quintuple heart bypass surgery at the Philippine Heart Center last week.

Saludo figured in an argument with Drilon who made the debt cap proposal over the weekend.

Drilon made the proposal as he rebuked Saludo for insisting the country’s fiscal problem stemmed from the widening budgetary deficit, not from foreign borrowings.

On the other hand, Bunye said he is not aware if Mrs. Arroyo would appoint a replacement for Saludo.

It is also not certain whether the President would apply one of the provisions of her "austerity" directives in the vacancy left by the resignation of Saludo as deputy presidential spokesman.

Republic Act 7430 or the Attrition Law prohibits the appointment of persons to fill up positions in government that have been vacated by reasons of resignation, death, retirement, dismissal or transfer to another office, with "certain exceptions" until lifted by the President under Administrative Order 103, which she signed last Aug. 31.

Bunye also sought to downplay the "seeming wave of resignations" which he said is "a mere coincidence and triggered by purely personal reasons."

"We may be losing some of the highly qualified and competent officials, but the government will never run out of bright minds and equally high-caliber performers to fill up the posts vacated," Bunye said.

Aside from Saludo and Ibe, other officials who tendered their resignations included National Treasurer Mina Figueroa, Dionisio Santiago of the Bureau of Corrections (BuCor) and National Power Corp. (Napocor) president Roger Murga.

Bunye said Ibe had informed then Executive Secretary Alberto Romulo her reasons for resigning as PRC chief, citing her daughter as among those who will be taking the medical board examinations.

Ibe said her position as PRC chief while her daughter is taking the board exam would be "a conflict of interest."

Romulo, who is now secretary of foreign affairs, swore in Guiang as the new PRC chairman.

Bunye added the President has also accepted the resignation of Figueroa effective Oct. 15 of this year and approved the retirement of Murga on Dec. 31, 2004.

Figueroa claimed she resigned to meet her own financial needs. Murga, on the other hand, had been wanting to retire and reiterated this when he turned 70 last Aug. 19.

In the case of Santiago, Bunye said the Office of the Executive Secretary has yet to formally receive a resignation letter.

Santiago told a radio interview he sent his resignation letter directly to Mrs. Arroyo.

Santiago resigned from his post as BuCor director, citing "burnout" and his desire to return to the private sector, Justice Secretary Raul Gonzalez said on Tuesday.

Bunye said Mrs. Arroyo has already tasked the Palace search committee to look for possible replacements.

"The Filipino talent pool is inexhaustible and there are others standing in line who are prepared to serve with sacrifice and integrity," Bunye added.

Mrs. Arroyo, meanwhile, has appointed Federico Laxa as the new general manager of the National Housing Authority replacing Edgardo Pamintuan who was earlier appointed as presidential adviser for constituency affairs. Pamintuan turned over his post to Laxa last Tuesday.

Palace sources told The STAR that former television executive Rolando Reyes, currently undersecretary of the Department of Tourism, would be appointed to take over the post of the incumbent press undersecretary for print Robert Mananquil who would be given another assignment.