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Palace names replacements for resigned Cabinet officials


(Update - 8:15 p.m.) Malacañang on Wednesday named the replacements for top Cabinet posts left by officials running in the May 10 elections. Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita told reporters on Wednesday he would be replaced by Transportation Secretary Leandro Mendoza, while Maritime Industry Authority (Marina) Administrator Elena Bautista had been named chief of the Presidential Management Staff (PMS) in place of Hermogenes Esperon. President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo also appointed Solicitor-General Alberto Agra to the Justice post to replace Agnes Devanadera, and named Agriculture Undersecretary Bernardo Fondevilla as the department’s new secretary in place of Arthur Yap. Agra will serve concurrently as the government’s top lawyer. Meanwhile, Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) chief Augusto Syjuco Jr. will be replaced by his deputy, Rogelio Peyuan.
Ermita and Esperon are running for congressmen of Batangas and Pangasinan, while Devanadera, Yap and Syjuco are running for congressional seats in Quezon, Bohol and Iloilo, respectively. Being "considered" as replacements for resigned Budget Secretary Rolando Andaya and chief presidential legal adviser Raul Gonzalez are Senior Deputy Executive Secretary Joaquin Lagonera and deputy chief presidential counsel Natividad Dizon, respectively. Ermita said Lagonera and Dizon are still being considered because they have yet to be informed about their appointments. Lagonera is still in the Middle East. Andaya is running for congressman of Camarines Sur, while Gonzalez, a former Justice secretary, is eyeing a mayoralty post in his home city of Iloilo. "Monday is the turnover, so we could officially wind down," said Ermita said, who was among the first Cabinet officials to quit last week. The posts vacated by the newly-appointed Cabinet officials will be assumed by their undersecretaries, assistant secretaries, and some other officials. The fresh appointments came a day after the Supreme Court, in its final ruling, junked a motion asking it to reconsider its February 22 landmark ruling that Cabinet officials running in the May polls were deemed resigned. In his motion for reconsideration, election lawyer and Arroyo supporter Romeo Macalintal cited amendments to the election automation law — Section 13 of Republic Act 9369 specifically — noting that a person is only considered a candidate at the start of the campaign period for the post he is running for. Macalintal argued that the Cabinet officials affected by the court ruling, who all happened to be running for local posts, would only be considered candidates starting March 26 — the start of the campaign season for local posts. But the court rejected the lawyer’s argument, saying it had been passed upon before. The court also said it was not requiring the Cabinet officials running in May to resign, but warned they could be held liable for some offenses. Backgrounders Newly installed executive secretary Mendoza was the first chief of the Philippine National Police that Mrs. Arroyo appointed when she assumed office in January 2001, after President Joseph Estrada was ousted through a popular uprising. After retiring from police service in July 2002, Mendoza — a member of the Philippine Military Academy Class of 1969 — was appointed as head of the Department of Transportation and Communication. Ermita himself, who Mendoza will replace, is a member of PMA Class of 1957. At the Wednesday briefing, Ermita said Mendoza had asked him to be available whenever the latter needed advice about his new job. Bautista was a DOTC undersecretary before being the Marina head. She also earlier headed the Land Transportation and Franchising Regulatory Board. Agra, who became solicitor general only in January, served as the President's lawyer when she faced an impeachment move before the House of Representatives in 2006. In 2007, he became head of the Office of Government Corporate Counsel. A year later, in 2008, he was assigned to head the regulatory office of the Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System (MWSS). Agra also headed the National Agriculture and Fishery Council (NAFC) and later the Agriculture Competitive Enhancement Fund. He was the acting Agriculture secretary when Yap left for Dubai on official business last week. Peyuan was formerly head of an internal task force tasked to investigate allegations of overpricing of training tools within TESDA. Lagonera worked in the Presidential Legislative Liaison Office and the Office of the Executive Secretary. Dizon was a former executive judge of the Quezon City Regional Trial Court Branch 106. In 2003, she became the deputy presidential chief of staff. Change of mind In a related development, Manila International Airport Authority (MIAA) General Manager Alfonso Cusi said he was giving up his congressional bid in Mindoro Oriental. "After close consultations with our constituents in Mindoro Oriental, our colleagues at the [MIAA] and my family, and deep soul-searching and personal reflection, [I] have decided to withdraw [my] candidacy," he said in a statement on Wednesday. Cusi said he would continue supporting his political group, the Sandugo Party. — Mark Merueñas/NPA/JV, GMANews.TV
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