Defensor names DENR undersecretary as officer-in-charge

Secretary Michael Defensor of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) has chosen his long-time associate as officer-in-charge (OIC) of the agency, as he undertook his new duties yesterday as President Arroyo’s chief of staff.

Defensor began his new job after filing a leave of absence at the DENR and designated Undersecretary for Management and Technical Services Armando De Castro as OIC effective today.

Defensor clarified, however, that his formal appointment had yet to be announced since an executive order outlining his job description was still being drafted.

"The President, as I understand it, will be finalizing my (position). The Executive Secretary is in the process of defining my powers and functions," Defensor said.

"I think they are still talking about the overall changes in the Cabinet and its new form, not just my position but the whole of the Cabinet," he added.

Defensor said his leave of absence from the DENR would enable the agency to function independently without his direct supervision.

"In my case, I took a leave because my problem is that, if I continue with what am doing with the department and I continue with what I’m doing now, kawawa naman ang department ko (my department will suffer). So I took a leave without being formally appointed to a position yet," he said.

Asked what job title he would hold while awaiting his appointment, Defensor said he could be considered a "secretary-on-leave or floating secretary."

Asked why he chose De Castro, the outgoing DENR chief said he had worked with him on the agency’s general program of action in previous months.

De Castro, for his part, said his appointment as OIC was because of his collaboration with Defensor in implementing DENR’s program of action.

"We worked on it together closely with other officials of the DENR," De Castro said. "I am happy but I guess I have to work harder now."

Defensor and De Castro became inseparable while working at the Housing and Urban Development Coordinating Council (HUDCC).

Defensor, then the HUDCC chairman, took De Castro with him and appointed him as secretary general of the housing agency from February 2001 to December 2004.

De Castro formerly worked as Defensor’s chief of staff at the House of Representatives when the DENR chief was then a Quezon City congressman.

De Castro began his government service as executive assistant of former senator Wigberto Tañada in 1991. De Castro’s name was quickly floated as a temporary replacement after Defensor admitted weeks ago that he was to become the handler of the President’s schedule and dealings.

Defensor had worked as campaign spokesman for Mrs. Arroyo during the May 10, 2004 elections.

"For the past two weeks, I have been working partly in Malacañang and partly in the department (DENR) but as of (yesterday), I will let go of all my responsibilities in the department and focus on my concerns here in Malacañang," Defensor declared.

"Even during the holidays, we fixed the schedule of the President and I would be overseeing her programs, particularly the pump-priming of the economy," he said.

On the possibility of a Cabinet revamp accommodating his new position, Defensor claimed the President would simply fill up some vacant positions in the Cabinet.

De Castro, on the other hand, said he will take over the DENR "for the meantime" since he might be replaced soon by a "woman," but did not elaborate.

Sources disclosed, however, that Presidential Adviser for Job Creation Arthur Yap was being groomed to replace Defensor.

There were also reports that Interior and Local Government Secretary Angelo Reyes was also being considered for the position.

Aside from working as Mrs. Arroyo’s chief of staff, Defensor is also being considered as a potential concurrent secretary of the Department of Social Welfare and Development, sources added.

Before leaving for his new job, Defensor issued a "midnight" special order assigning two offices directly under his office to the supervision of two undersecretaries.

This means De Castro may now supervise the Public Affairs Office (PAO) while the Special Concerns Office (SCO) would be managed by Demetrio Ignacio, Undersecretary for Policy Planning and Environment.