Andaya assumes DBM post this week

Camarines Sur Rep. Rolando Andaya Jr. formally assumes his new post as secretary of the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) on Wednesday as other new Cabinet appointees are also expected to take over their respective posts this week, Malacañang officials said yesterday.

Palace sources also said Philippine Information Agency (PIA) director general Renato Velasco was offered a board seat in one of the subsidiaries of the state-owned Philippine National Oil Co. (PNOC) after he declined repeated offers from President Arroyo to head the Presidential Management Staff (PMS).

The sources said that besides House committee on ways and means chairman Tarlac Rep. Jesli Lapus, Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) director general Augusto Syjuco is also being considered to head the Department of Education (DepEd).

Lapus is reportedly leading the shortlist for DepEd secretary.

Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita said the new heads of the DepEd and the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) will be announced by the Palace in the coming days.

"Some of the appointees will take their oaths of office this week and assume their new posts," Ermita said in a telephone interview.

In the case of the DAR, Ermita said, there is also a strong possibility that DAR officer-in-charge Nasser Pangandaman might be appointed in permanent capacity as the government accelerates its land reform program and addresses issues of ancestral domain in Mindanao.

When sought to comment about his reported appointment to the PNOC, Velasco confirmed that there were such offers but added that "it’s too premature" to comment on them.

"There are offers regarding PNOC and others but there is really nothing definite yet," Velasco said in a telephone interview, adding that the matter of his transfer to another government post was not raised during his recent meetings with the President.

Sources said Velasco, who acted as chief of staff to some senators, including Edgardo Angara and Mar Roxas II, was asked by Mrs. Arroyo to take the PMS post on at least three occasions, but Velasco reportedly declined because he already had too much of staff work.

Velasco, who holds a doctorate degree in Political Science from the University of Tokyo, also acted as policy and technical director when Mrs. Arroyo was still vice president.

The PMS is headed by Secretary Rigoberto Tiglao, but he is expected to leave next month to assume his new post as ambassador to Greece.

Velasco also said there are moves to place the PIA under the Government Mass Media Group (GMMG), headed by Secretary Cerge Remonde so the government’s information machinery can be made more coordinated and effective.

"Putting the PIA under the GMMG would greatly help in consolidating our information and communications work," he said.

Andaya, who is leaving his chairmanship of the powerful House committee on appropriations to Albay Rep. Joey Salceda, said that once he has taken up the reins at the DBM, he will prioritize the full and effective implementation of Republic Act No. 9184 or the E-Procurement Act, which seeks to streamline and reduce paperwork on government supply purchases as well as effectively reduce corruption.

He said that at least P20 billion is lost annually to corruption in government procurement. — Paolo Romero