Eyes review of 'midnight appointees'

MANILA, Philippines - President-elect Benigno "Noynoy" Aquino III on Wednesday said he will replace Armed Forces chief of staff Lt. Gen. Delfin Bangit due to perceived differences with the military chief.

In his first press conference after his proclamation, Aquino said he will replace Bangit as military chief since he already opposed the latter's appointment before the start of the 90-day period on the midnight appointments ban.

Aquino said Bangit will be the only one among more than 300 military officers whose promotion will not be resubmitted to the Commission on Appointments for confirmation.

"With the caveat that all of those who have been presented to the Commission on Appointments, with the exception of the chief of staff, have no issues before them, after a cursory review we will resubmit their appointments so that those who are deserving will be considered and fulfill the requirements of the Constitution and thereby get their appropriate ranks," he said.

He added: "This is with the exception of the chief of staff who, at the present time, with his comments and insinuations does not indicate a harmonious relationship with us. There have been intermediaries. He knows where I am coming from. I understand what he needs. We will work for the betterment of the institution and the stability of the country."

"He will not be the chief of staff."

Sought for comment, Armed Forces spokesman Lt. Col. Arnulfo Marcelo Burgos said Bangit is ready to relinquish his post if ordered by the incoming president.

“As a professional soldier, he will obey and follow orders. In the meantime he would just continue working and serving the Armed Forces,” said Burgos.

Bangit, who was appointed chief of the 120,000-strong AFP last March, earlier rejected calls by the Aquino camp to resign.

This is the first time in recent years that an AFP chief would be replaced by a new President. If he is not retained as AFP chief, Bangit may not have other options but to opt for early retirement. Bangit is reaching the retirement age of 56 on July next year.

Review midnight appointments

Aquino, who defeated his rivals after running on an anti-corruption platform, promised to conduct an immediate review of more than 200 "midnight appointees" who were allegedly given positions in government just before the elections appointment ban.

He noted that his own staff said that there were 4,000-5,000 positions that needed to be filled up in government, but Malacañang has said there were only 1,000.

Aquino said his new executive secretary and legal teams are now conducting an inventory of all appointive government positions as well as review the appointments of officials who were given fixed terms in government.

"We need to determine how many positions are really needed. Also, all lawyers will agree that the power to appoint also carries with it the power to dismiss.That has been decided in so many precedent-setting cases. I will probably ask all these people to give me a free hand in reorganizing all of the positions attributable to presidential appointees. Mahirap naman po na sa umpisa pa lang eh may mamimili kung susunod o di susunod," he said.

Aquino said he is getting the best people "who have either great potential or who have proven their capability" to fill in the positions. He added, however, that it is unlikely that he will appoint Vice-President-elect Jejomar Binay as the new secretary of the Department of the Interior and Local Government despite the latter's statement that he is seeking the position.

"I have several candidates for DILG. I will talk to him and we will come to something mutually agreeable," he said.

Anxious and eager

Aquino said that his first official act after taking his oath of office on June 30 would be to know the true status of the country and identify all problems besetting the nation in order to correctly identify the solution.

"I am a little anxious, a little eager to solve the problems besetting our countrymen. It is not total joy at this point in time but we are proud of how our countrymen stood their ground and produced this campaign and this victory despite the odds," he said.

He said among his priorities are to provide better jobs for Filipinos to dissuade them from going overseas, and to strengthen government's enforcement and prosecution arms to fight graft and corruption.

He also said he plans to call on President Arroyo after the latter expressed her desire to congratulate the president-elect.

Asked about the possible appointment of his running mate, Mar Roxas, to a government position, Aquino said the one-year ban on appointing defeated electoral candidates is still in effect. He also said that he is giving Roxas space after the latter was defeated in the vice-presidential race.

"We were in communication not too long ago. I was in Tarlac while he went to Baguio...I plan to give him space and when he is ready to discuss certain party matters, he will have unlimited access to me," he said.

He also said he is willing to work with the Marcos family despite his family's long rivalry with the latter. This, after Ilocos Norte Governor-elect Imee Marcos sent him a text message to congratulate him for his electoral win.

"So long as we are working for the betterment of the people, I don't see where we should be engaging in conflict that does not produce tangible positive results for the people....I did tell her that they can count on me to do right by her and especially her constituents so long as it redounds to the betterment of the people," he said.