Cabinet revamp on

 Manila, Philippines - A minor revamp is expected to take place in the official family of President Aquino effective Aug. 1, after Secretary Julia Abad of the Presidential Management Staff (PMS) leaves the government, sources revealed yesterday.

Three separate Palace insiders confirmed reports of The STAR last month that Aquino’s Ateneo classmate – Energy Secretary Jose Rene Almendras – will be taking over the job of Abad, daughter of Budget Secretary Florencio Abad.

Former finance undersecretary Emmanuel Bonoan, an appointee of former President and now Pampanga Rep. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and reportedly a protégé of Finance Secretary Cesar Purisima, will replace Almendras at the helm of the Department of Energy (DOE).

The elder Abad – a former Batanes congressman and former education secretary – hinted earlier that having to work with Aquino may have taken its toll on his daughter, who is now a mother.

“Of course there is a new element in her life now. She is a mother and she certainly wants a predictable life because as you know, the work supporting the President is a work that has no schedule, because you are always on call,” Abad told Palace reporters.

“She may need some adjustments in her life, I don’t know if it that includes adjustment in her work schedule,” Abad said, evading categorical answers about the possibility of an impending Cabinet revamp.

Aquino himself had at one point refused to either confirm or deny news of any revamp, but assured Palace reporters they will be apprised of such developments in due time. He has been consistently saying though that he is content with the performance of his Cabinet.

Presidential spokesman Edwin Lacierda advised journalists not to be surprised by changes, noting that this is normal in any administration.

“I’m just saying that as a matter of record. There will be movements in the Cabinet and it’s going to be a normal process. We should not be surprised if there are similar developments,” he said.

There are reports that Julia will be focusing on motherhood, and may even relocate to Washington, where her British-husband is working in the World Bank.

Lacierda repeated what Aquino used to say in several gatherings that some of his Cabinet members have been wanting to return to the private sector due to the huge pay cut they have been experiencing since joining government.

“Some of the Cabinet members really took a pay cut when they decided to join government and it’s natural that there will be changes in the Cabinet as we go along,” he said.

The STAR learned from several reliable sources that Aquino wanted to tap the managerial skills of Almendras, who was a chief executive officer of several big companies before he persuaded him to join his government.

“He wants a CEO-type to supervise his office. He also needs an overall secretary to the Cabinet, aside from the task of Executive Secretary (Paquito) Ochoa. Being a very close friend, of course, is definitely an advantage,” the insider revealed.

“The trust and confidence will always be there, especially since he came from the public sector,” the source explained. PMS is the office that sifts all the projects – big or small – of the Office of the President before it reaches Aquino’s desk.

Already, Aquino hinted while he was in London that he wanted “graduating” senators Panfilo Lacson and Francis Pangilinan to also join his Cabinet.

Lacson will reportedly go to the Department of the Interior and Local Government while Pangilinan is reportedly eyeing either the Department of Agriculture or the Department of Justice.

Bonoan is a very close friend of Purisima, who served in the same position in the previous Arroyo administration until July 2005, when he and other Cabinet members banded themselves as “Hyatt 10” and called for Arroyo’s resignation.

The former DOF undersecretary used to head the agency’s Revenue Operation Group, more popularly known as Run After Tax Evaders (RATE), that goes after tax evaders, or the anti-corruption arm of the finance department.

Prior to joining government, Bonoan was with the tax division of a big auditing firm. He also served as chief operating officer of KPMG LLP, vice chairman for Tax and Corporate Services of Manabat San Agustin & Co.

Bonoan’s interest in the DOE will most likely be in its renewable energy sector.

In 2009, he had been urging the DOE, the Department of Environment and Natural Resources and Department of Trade and Industry to promote projects in the country under the Renewable Energy Act of 2008.

He said the renewable energy law exempts the sale of carbon credits from all taxes. Aside from the exemptions, “companies will have a great return when they have proper financial projections from their investments in renewable energy.”

“Power generated from renewable energy technologies could also be sold to the grid, adding increased capacity for the country’s electricity requirements,” the former finance official said.

Almendras, meantime, was former president of Manila Water Co. He had been in the private sector for 29 years before he accepted the post at the DOE, and started out his career with the Citytrust Banking Corp.

He later moved to Citibank as account management group head in the Visayas in 1985. After this, he was invited by the Aboitiz Group to be the company’s treasurer for both the Aboitiz Company and Aboitiz Equity Ventures.

Almendras also joined the Ayala Group through Ayala Land Inc. He was appointed CEO of Cebu Holdings Inc. and Cebu Property Ventures and Development Corp.

Later, he assumed the role of business group head for Visayas-Mindanao and concurrently operations transformation group head of Ayala Land.