Defensor joins Petron board

In case the public is wondering whatever happened to Mike Defensor, the controversial former chief of staff of President Arroyo, he has quietly joined the board of directors of Petron Corp.

Sources told The STAR yesterday that Defensor must have been nominated to the Petron board by Malacañang since the government still owns 40 percent of the company, which is the biggest oil
refiner in the country.

Saudi oil giant Aramco owns another 40 percent, while small investors own the remaining 20 percent.

Defensor has reportedly been frequenting Macau, though it was not clear what was his business in going there. Macau has replaced Las Vegas in Nevada as the world’s gambling capital.

Defensor, a former Quezon City congressman, was Mrs. Arroyo’s chief of staff before seeking a Senate seat in last May’s elections. He and eight other administration candidates lost to their opposition rivals.

He was also former secretary of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources.

He joins former budget secretary Emilia Boncodin in the Petron board. Boncodin had revealed that he was invited to the board by Nicasio Alcantara, who heads the government’s team in Petron.

Alcantara, a close friend of Mrs. Arroyo, is company chairman. Chairmanship of Petron is reserved to a government representative, while the post of company president is given to an Aramco nominee.

Membership in the Petron board is a lucrative job.

Previously, Defensor was offered a board seat in sequestered United Coconut Planters Bank. He obviously preferred Petron.

Another defeated administration candidate, former senator Ralph Recto, has joined the board of Union Bank, which is controlled by the Aboitiz family.

Widely expected to be given a government post after the one-year ban on taking a state job expires in May next year is former Surigao del Sur congressman Prospero Pichay Jr.

There were reports that Pichay was interested in becoming either chairman of the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp., a job now held by Ephraim Genuino, a close friend of First Gentleman Jose Miguel Arroyo, or secretary of agriculture, a post held by Arthur Yap.

Only three administration candidates survived the opposition’s juggernaut in May: re-electionist Senators Edgardo Angara and Joker Arroyo, and former Bukidnon congressman Juan Miguel Zubiri.