Rigodon in cabinet

From Malaya:
Gloria Arroyo yesterday reshuffled three Cabinet positions, naming Presidential Management Staff chief Cerge Remonde as press secretary vice Jesus Dureza, who is now the chief presidential legal counsel, and Hermogenes Esperon as Remonde’s replacement.

Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita said Avelino Razon, National Security Council deputy director for the National Peace and Order Council, takes the place of Esperon as presidential adviser on the peace process.

Ermita said Transportation Undersecretary Ma. Elena Bautista was named administrator of the Maritime Industry Authority, a post she used to head as officer in charge, while Land Transportation Office chief Alberto Suansing was transferred to the DOTC as undersecretary.

He said no replacement has been named for Suansing.

Ermita said former National Irrigation Authority administrator Arturo Lomibao is the new head of the Land Transportation and Franchising Regulatory Board vice Thompson Lantion. There was no word if Lantion would get a new assignment.

Sen. Francis Pangilinan said the Palace action was a “mere rigodon of the same cheerleaders.”

“There are no new faces, no new inputs, no new direction. So what is the point of a revamp if there will be no fresh initiatives?” he said.

“But this move is just like that saying ‘rearranging the chairs on the Titanic.’ Kahit ano’ng gawin ng mga nag-ririgodon, lulubog pa rin ang barko,” he said.

“It’s just going to be politics and governance as usual. Walang masyadong maaasahang pagbabago ang taumbayan dito.”

Ermita said the changes would take effect on February 1, adding dissatisfaction with their performance was not the reason for the officials’ re-assignment.

“If it is dissatisfaction, rather than shifting them to another office, maybe they should be asked to leave… Pero hindi. They were shifted because the President feels that they will continue to be helpful to her administration,” he said.

He also denied that Dureza’s short seven-month stint was caused by the flap arising from a prayer he made during the start of a Cabinet meeting last year that Arroyo would continue to lead the country beyond 2010.

Ermita said Dureza wanted a lighter work schedule to be able to attend to his wife who is undergoing medical treatment in their home city of Davao.

“He told me that he would try to seek out the President for that very reason. Alam ko it has something to do with the health of his wife,” Ermita said.

He said he would remain as presidential spokesman while Lorelei Fajardo and Anthony Golez would stay as deputies.

Ermita said he sees no problem with Dureza moving to another post, expressing confidence on Remonde who was a former broadcast executive.

Remonde, who hails from Cebu, was a former Kapisanan ng mg Brodkaster ng Pilipinas chairman. He was first appointed by Arroyo as her press undersecretary early in her presidency. He was named PMS director general in October 2006.

Ermita also scotched speculations that Esperon was transferred because of poor performance as peace adviser.

“Not at all. He was not replaced, there was a need to place somebody to fill the post vacated by Secretary Remonde. In the words of the President, he was a former chief of staff of the military and in his new job he can consider himself as chief of staff for civilian activities. At the PMS, he will be helping the President monitor all major projects of the government,” Ermita said.

Esperon was on top of the negotiations with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front which produced the controversial Memorandum of Agreement on Ancestral Domain. Public uproar over the proposed creation of a Bangsamoro Judicial Entity prompted Arroyo to instruct the government panel not to sign the agreement. The Supreme Court later declared the MOA-AD as unconstitutional.