SAMAR-BALAY FEUD: BITTER INFIGHTING AMONG AQUINO BACKERS
MANILA, SEPTEMBER 27, 2010 (TRIBUNE) By Gerry Baldo and Angie M. Rosales - PUNO A VICTIM OF BALAY, SAMAR FEUDS
Infighting among the major groups that backed the presidential campaign of President Aquino in the national elections last May has been raging hot and its offshoot included the ouster moves against Interior and Local Government Undersecretary Rico Puno, a member of the House of Representatives said yesterday.
Ang Kasangga party-list Rep. Teodorico Haresco said the continuing attempt by the camp of defeated vice presidential candidate Manuel Roxas II to take control of key posts in government is getting out of hand at the expense of some Cabinet members appointed by Aquino. Haresco said he has been hearing about the alleged bickering and factionalism in the circle of President Aquino�s men.
�There�s obviously a silent but vicious turf war going on within the President�s Cabinet,� Haresco said adding that the alleged attempt to oust Puno was part of a demolition job on Aquino�s appointees.
He said Puno was part of the so-called �Noy-Bi group� that supported the candidacy of then Liberal Party presidential candidate Benigno Aquino III and Pwersa Ng Masang Pilipino vice presidential candidate Jejomar Binay. The �Noy-Bi group� is now called the �Samar Group� because of the location of its offices on Samar Street at the South Triangle in Quezon City during the campaign while Roxas� group is being called tha �Balay Group� which is coined from the �Balay� of the Roxases in Cubao.
Closely identified with the �Balay Group� are the members of the so-called �Hyatt 10� and its ring of supporters while the �Samar Group� are composed of �loyalists� of the Aquino and Cojuangco families, Senator Francis Escudero and House Speaker Feliciano Belmonte.
Budget Secretary Florencio Abad is part of the �Hyatt 10.� His wife Batanes Rep. Henedina Abad is the chairperson of the House committee on energy. Their daughter Julia Abad is head of the Presidential Management Staff which has full control of the presidential social fund. Another son is with the Department of Finance as chief of staff of Finance Sec. Cesar Purisima.
Haresco said that there is a big possibility that the controversies heaped on Puno, a close associate of Aquino, was the handiwork of the �Balay Group� which is allegedly trying to get most of the key positions in government.
�In fact I am personally informed about a deliberate attempt to remove another trusted aide from the list of presidential appointees but he was returned to the list when the President saw that his name wasn�t there,� said Haresco.
�This is very much like a demolition job,� Haresco said.
�There�s a pressure on the President to kick Puno out and I don�t think that all these issues coming out against him are mere coincidences. I think these are premeditated issues that seem to be designed to put him out of P-Noy�s core of trusted friends. I�m glad the President is exercising caution on this one,� he said.
�Besides the President should not be faulted if he is withholding any action on the courtesy resignation of Puno because this might be exactly the objective of those who are scheming to control his government,� the partylist lawmaker said.
Haresco said that as soon as the President gets back from his New York mission, he should personally conduct an investigation to find out the underlying circumstances behind the series of controversies involving Puno.
�I wouldn�t be surprised if all these issues have been fabricated by some people or group of people who wants to run the government,� said Haresco.
Aquino, meanwhile, is being urged to allow Puno take a leave of absence or assign him to a less controversial position.
This was the unsolicited advice given yesterday by Sen. Juan Miguel Zubiri to the President in the wake of the new round of jueteng scandal implicating Puno, known to be very close to Aquino even long before he assumed the presidency.
Zubiri made his suggestions as he noted of reports saying that the President will not accept the courtesy resignation that Puno plan to tender, the moment the Chief Executive return to country from his US trip.
�My suggestion to President Aquino, if you do not want your friend to resign, my unsolicited advice and I hope this will not offend or annoy him, is why don�t you accept a leave of absence from Puno?� he asked.
�Since he has made himself quite controversial in the DILG (Department of the Interior and Local Government) because of the accusations against him on the jueteng scandal and in the mishandling of the hostage situation, I think he should be transferred to another position in government.
�Why don�t you transfer him to the Office of the President? Why don�t you transfer him to the Presidential Management Staff (PMS)?� Zubiri said.
The senator admitted that he share the sentiments of the public over the scandals the administration is now facing, almost the same issues that hounded the previous government, where certain government officials had been implicated.
�I�ve talked to a lot of people and a number of them are frustrated with what�s happening in the government. I think the administration should also be cautious in handling controversial cases so as not to be perceived to be favoring known friends or associates, otherwise this government will prove to be no different from the previous ones. It�s as if business as usual for this government,� he said.
Zubiri said the public is yet to hear from the administration concrete moves making accountable those who have been embroiled in various charges, considering that Aquino have boasted in the past of having an anti-corruption platform as among the priority programs/
�As they always say, when there�s smoke, there�s fire. He (Puno) is adding burden to our friend, the President. Of course he deserves due process. But he can take a leave of absence pending the result of the investigation.
�Because the (position in the) DILG, entails not only the trust and confidence of the President but it has to be a position of trust and confidence of the Filipino people. The Presideht has said in the past that the Filipino people is his �boss�,� he said.
�I�m not saying that he should resign. He could probably be transferred to e less controversial position so that in that way, he remains close (to the President). He�s still the eyes and ears of the President but he is not carrying a sensitive portfolio, especially those involved in the operations of the police where he could be accused of being in charge of illegal activities such as gambling or drugs,� he said.
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