Aquino stands by peace adviser — Palace exec

President Benigno Simeon "Noynoy" Aquino III is standing by his peace adviser, Secretary Teresita "Ging" Deles despite the call of the House of Representatives for her to resign. In an ambush interview with reporters in Camp Aguinaldo, Quezon City Presidential Spokesman Edwin Lacierda said Aquino continues to have confidence in Deles, a longtime advocate of the peace process. Deles, head of the Office of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process (OPAPP), also served as peace adviser to former President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo from 2003 to 2005. "The President is standing by Secretary Deles. He has full confidence in Secretary Ging Deles," Lacierda said. The House approved on Saturday morning a resolution calling for her resignation before approving the budget of her agency. The resolution calling for her resignation was approved after Deles allegedly displayed arrogance toward Lanao del Norte Rep. Aliah Dimaporo. "It is unfortunate that a resolution was passed but the president continues to repose his confidence on Sec. Ging Deles," Lacierda said. He said there has been no discussion yet on whether Aquino will ask his allies in the House to withdraw their support for the resolution. However, in a separate ambush interview, Executive Secretary Paquito "Jojo" Ochoa Jr. said Malacañang will "probably" ask their allies to do so. House Speaker Feliciano "Sonny" Belmonte Jr. and Majority Leader Neptali Gonzales III are both members of Aquino's Liberal Party. One-peso budget The House has yet to take up the motion of Davao del Sur Marc Douglas Cagas to give the OPAPP a P1-budget after Deles allegedly displayed arrogance toward Dimaporo. In a letter sent to House minority leader Edcel Lagman, Dimaporo said she told Deles she was speaking on behalf of Muslim legislators who had questions about the programs and policies of OPAPP and the perceived lack of importance given to cultural sensitivity. Deles allegedly responded by saying that the problem with Muslim legislators is that they are mostly new and do not understand how the process works, while she (Deles) had been working on the peace issue for a long time. Dimaporo had earlier asked Deles during a plenary about the root causes of the insurgency in Mindanao. During the caucus, Deles allegedly chided the legislator on why she asked the question in plenary and not when the two of them met in person twice in different events outside Congress. Dimaporo noted that Deles seemed to be getting personal. “She insinuated that I was delaying the budget hearing of the Office of the President," the Lanao del Norte representative said. When Dimaporo reminded Deles that she was asking questions on behalf of the other Muslim lawmakers, the peace process adviser said: “Nobody was there, nobody was listening, so who was I asking the questions for?" “She also told me that even the majority and minority representatives did not understand why I was taking so long to interpellate and that the Speaker was even advised to keep his answers short so that it will end quickly," Dimaporo said. While she was asking Deles about OPAPP programs, Dimaporo recalled, the latter allegedly cut her off by saying that she wished that before the lawmaker had spoken to her, Dimaporo should “read up her background. [Deles] then told me to read her books." Dimaporo said that she felt insulted by what Deles stated. "The things that she said, whether or not she is aware of it, were demeaning not only to me but also to Muslim colleagues in Congress," Dimaporo said. The representative said it was her first experience to be approached by a Cabinet-rank official during budget deliberations and “I had expected at least some kind of diplomacy from a Cabinet member, and much more so from the leading officer of the peace process in the country." Deles has denied raising her voice while talking to Dimaporo during a meeting with other lawmakers. "Of course not. I would have never done that," Deles said. The presidential peace adviser said she'd be "happy to" resign if the public wants her to but added that she serves at the pleasure of the president. –VVP, GMANews.TV