GMA: Defensor free to go if…

He’s free to go.

President Arroyo said yesterday she cannot stop housing chief Michael Defensor from leaving her Cabinet if he wants to pursue his political career.

At the same time, however, the President recalled her appointment of Zorayda Alonzo as president of the National Home Mortgage Finance Corp. (NHMFC) – a move that could appease Defensor.

"I told him if he wants to run for Congress, he will make a good congressman and I cannot stop him," the President said at her weekly press conference at Malacañang.

Defensor has reportedly prepared a letter tendering his "irrevocable resignation effective immediately" as chairman of the Housing and Urban Development Coordinating Council (HUDCC) after he was bypassed in vital appointments in government offices involved in the housing program.

Mrs. Arroyo said she hopes Defensor would be leaving the Cabinet to run for Congress and not because he refuses to work with other appointees.

The President said Alonzo would be transferred because she wants to respect the security of tenure of officials enjoying fixed terms, as in the case of incumbent NHMFC president Angelito Salud.

"I cannot appoint her until Mr. Salud finishes his term or decides to formally resign," the President said

Defensor, the congressman of Quezon City’s third district before he joined the Arroyo government, will have until today to decide whether to stay in the Cabinet. Feb. 28 is the last day for submission of certificates of candidacy in the congressional level.

The President said if Defensor files his candidacy, he is deemed automatically resigned.

The Palace announced Saturday the appointment of Alonzo, former Angeles City Mayor Edgardo Pamintuan as National Housing Authority general manager and Manuel Crisostomo as president of the Pag-IBIG Fund.

Defensor said he would have blocked the appointment of Alonzo had he been consulted, but had no objection to other appointments to the housing agencies.

The housing chief said he may have been bypassed after earlier announcing he would recommend his own nominees.

However, Presidential Management Staff chief Secretary Victoria Garchitorena has publicly apologized to Defensor for "unintentionally" bypassing him in the vital appointments.

Garchitorena said it was purely an oversight because she thought the NHA and Pag-IBIG were financial institutions that had to be cleared with the Department of Finance.

The President said Alonzo would be appointed to another post, possibly in a government financial institution.

"We want her in one of the government financing agencies because she is a good financial manager. There are other agencies that need the expertise of Mel Alonzo," Mrs. Arroyo said. — Marichu Villanueva