Palace exec to future Cabinet appointees: Don't preempt PNoy

A Malacañang official on Wednesday advised those being considered for government positions to just wait for President Benigno Aquino III’s announcement and avoid talking about it publicly. “For people who are being considered, it would be more prudent for them not to say anything at this point in time," Ricky Carandang, head of the Presidential Communication Development and Strategic Planning Office, told reporters. “Leave it to the President to make announcement." Carandang said this amid reports that some defeated senatorial candidates are already mentioning to public the positions they are eyeing. “Let the President make the decision on his own without outside pressure as much as possible," Carandang said. Meanwhile, defeated senatorial candidate and former Bukidnon Rep. Nereus Acosta issues a statement Wednesday on the supposed “well-financed smear campaign" launched against him. He said the smear campaign was launched against him “because I am being considered by President Aquino for the portfolio of the Secretary of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources." “Via full-page ads and other media, they publicized an old worn-out charge filed against me 10 years ago by my political rivals when I was a congressman of Bukidnon," he said. Acosta said many public officials have pending cases before various courts and it is not an indication of guilt. He said he promised President Aquino that he would clean up the “well-placed mafia groups that are embedded in the DENR from the issuance of fake land patents resulting to big land scams to the questionable grants of mining and logging permits." “They must be afraid of the clean up I intend to do. I will be stepping on big toes – but someone has got to do it. I will do it if given the chance," he added. Acosta also said that it will be the last the public will hear from him regarding the matter “as I refuse to be drawn into a mud-slinging contest with these vested interests." - Amita O. Legaspi/KBK, GMA News