Maceda quits as trial spokesman

Ambassador Ernesto Maceda relinquished yesterday his informal assignment as presidential spokesman for the impeachment trial of President Estrada to newly installed Executive Secretary Edgardo Angara. Maceda held the post for less than two weeks.

He told The STAR he had to give up this job to Angara since one of the roles of an executive secretary is to speak for the Pre-sident.

There were speculations, however, that Maceda quit after failing to get the post of either executive secretary or agriculture secretary.

Maceda and Angara have been at odds since their Senate days, when Maceda engineered Angara’s ouster as Senate president in 1995.

Maceda said he will now focus on his original assignment as ambassador to the United States. He will leave on Jan. 16 as the President’s representative to the inauguration of US President-elect George Bush.

The ambassador returned to Manila before the impeachment trial started last Dec. 7.

He said he was offered the post of a spokesman when a senior bank executive testified that she saw the President sign bank documents bearing the name Jose Velarde.

The idea of having a spokesman actually came from the defense panel when they were discussing the prosecution’s tactics. Maceda said he was there during that meeting "more as a lawyer and a political specialist."

When the defense panel noted that the impeachment battle is also a fight for public perception, they said that there must "be somebody who will issue a more political and more public relations-friendly statement," Maceda said.

The President then asked Maceda if he could take on the role as his spokesman for the impeachment trial.

"Could I say ‘no’ to a friend in need?" Maceda said. "If I could help, why not."

Maceda said he would have gladly accepted the agriculture portfolio if it was offered to him.

However, he said the President gave in to Angara’s requests as a condition in accepting the job as executive secretary, among which includes the appointment of Agriculture Undersecretary Domingo Panganiban as agriculture chief.

Maceda said he would remain to be one of the "better political advisers" who will join President Estrada in the "post-acquittal scenario" being prepared by Malacañang.

The former Senate chief also indicated his readiness to take over any vacancies in the Cabinet.

"I’m not running for the Senate because that’s too stressful," he said, adding that if he would be offered a Cabinet post, he would request for an agency that is not involved in too much political and regulatory controversies. – Marichu Villanueva