Obviously displeased with the pace of the government’s land distribution under CARP, the President went over the report of Agrarian Reform Secretary Hernani Braganza with a fine-tooth comb.
Braganza reported that his department has so far distributed 23,707 hectares to 17,707 farmer beneficiaries, saying it represented 25 percent of the 112,000 hectares targeted for 2001.
"Nani Braganza was really hot under the collar. He was perspiring all over his face," a colleague told reporters after the Cabinet meeting.
The source, who asked not to be identified, said Braganza tried to pass the blame for the shortfall to his lieutenants who mistakenly included lands which were exempted from CARP, triggering legal disputes that set back the entire program.
Braganza’s alibi set off a heated debate among the Cabinet members, prompting Education Secretary Raul Roco to butt in with comic relief.
Roco lectured to his colleagues that there are only two rules that apply in a relationship between the boss and his subordinates.
"Rule number one; ‘The boss is always right.’ Rule number two; When the boss is wrong, refer to Rule number one,‘" Roco said.
The joke elicited a hearty laugh from the President and the members of her official family.
The source said Roco was obviously still on cloud nine over a STAR report about Pulse Asia survey ranking him as the top performer among the Cabinet officials of the Arroyo administration.
Presidential Spokesman Rigoberto Tiglao said the meeting largely delved on Mrs. Arroyo’s anti-poverty program as spelled out in her State of the Nation Address (SONA) delivered at the joint opening of the 12th Congress on Monday in a bid to synchronize it with the revised Medium-Term Development Plans (MTDP).
The Cabinet also tackled proposed measures regarding the shift to Gross Income Taxation, targets for the agriculture department and the national budget for next year.
In a press briefing following the Cabinet meeting, Tiglao denied reports that Interior and Local Government Secretary Jose Lina Jr. was on the way out, with National Bureau of Investigation Director Reynaldo Wycoco as his probable replacement.
"There’s no truth to that rumor. And we’re just wondering why there are such strong rumors like that. There are no plans to revamp the Cabinet," Tiglao stressed.
He noted that the Pulse Asia survey also gave all of the Cabinet secretaries satisfactory ratings even as Mrs. Arroyo has reportedly expressed displeasure over the performance of some of them.
Roco had a 90 percent approval rating in the survey, with Lina a far second with 37 percent, followed by National Security Adviser Roilo Golez with 36 percent.
Meanwhile, Environment and Natural Resources Secretary Heherson Alvarez may have rough sailing at the Commission on Appointments (CA) following the designation of Palawan Rep. Vicente Sandoval as head of the House panel in the bicameral body.
A ranking DENR official revealed that Alvarez rudely rejected earlier a recommendation by Sandoval for the retention of Horacio Ramos as Director of the Mines and Geosciences Bureau (MGB).
The source said Alvarez raised his voice and told Sandoval that Ramos would definitely be out of the MGB.
Sorsogon Rep. Francis Escudero has also reportedly vowed to resist Alvarez’s appointment.
"Escudero wants the head of Undersecretary Ramon Paje in exchange for his confirmation in the CA," the source said.
Certain congressmen were opposed to Paje’s stay at the DENR for still unknown reasons.
Sen. Aquilino Pimentel Jr. was also expected to vote down Alvarez’s nomination because of the latter’s preference for a selective logging ban in the country.
In another development, Agriculture Secretary Leonardo Montemayor will have to bear the imposing presence of the President for at least 90 minutes in his office today.
Mrs. Arroyo will be virtually breathing down the necks of the Department of Agriculture (DA) officials, including Montemayor, to ensure that they meet her target of generating one million agriculture-related jobs over the next three years.
The Chief Executive clarified that she has to do a "micro-managing" of the DA if only to fulfill her commitments as enumerated in her first SONA where she also announced the release of P20 billion to finance implementation of the Agriculture and Fishery Modernization Act (AFMA).
She said P20 billion is a big amount so "I don’t want it wasted."
"For now, what’s really important is to focus on agriculture modernization because we need to put out one million new jobs. I think we cannot afford to fail in that so I need to focus on this," Mrs. Arroyo said. — Marichu Villanueva, Jose Rodel Clapano