Palace wants to gag Defensor

Malacañang wants to gag presidential chief of staff Michael Defensor since most of his pronouncements do not jibe with those of other Palace officials.

Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita said he has asked Defensor to stop talking "too much" to the media.

"I told him, you are too famous, everything you say, the media picks up," he said. "So, huwag ka na muna magsasalita (Refrain from talking in the meantime)."

Ermita said when Defensor announced that retired Maj. Gen. Jovito Palparan would be named deputy national security adviser, the post went to retired Lt. Gen. Pedro Cabuay.

Budget Secretary Rolando Andaya called Defensor a "one-man convention" when he announced that they were being considered for the administration’s senatorial slate in next year’s elections, he added.

Ermita said Defensor had taken the names of possible senatorial candidates "out of thin air."

"Maybe he just thought of it, and that’s it," he said.

"As for me, this is not really the talk about ‘senatorial lineup’ because in the first place, the program of government is to push for political reform, and this means Charter change.

"So you will notice that we never mentioned anything about the preparations for senatorial elections. It is not appropriate to talk about a lineup for senators while we are discussing whether Cha-cha will push through," Ermita said.

He said if Cha-cha succeeds, Congress would be dissolved, and a unicameral, parliamentary system of government would be set up.

"As for me, I have no ambition, desire or aspiration to run for the Senate," he said.

"Stop floating my name, we are near Pasig River, we might get drowned. I told (Defensor) not to make anymore statements because it will divert (the public’s attention) from the real agenda that we are pushing," Ermita said.

He added Defensor’s statement that Malacañang was seeking to freeze ousted President Joseph Estrada’s assets had nothing to do with the Palace.

"We don’t have anything to do with the case anymore because it’s now with the courts," he said. "There is nothing like that."