PASG head quits; Arroyo rejects resignation
Despite appeals from the American Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the government’s antismuggling chief has opted to resign, saying he needed to spare President Macapagal-Arroyo from the pressures of her allies in Congress.
But Ms Arroyo has rejected his resignation, according to Lorelie Fajardo, deputy spokesperson for Ms Arroyo.
“We should pity the President because of those legislators. She’s being put in a tight spot. I don’t want this issue to come to (a) point where Ms Arroyo would (have to) choose among us,” Undersecretary Antonio Villar Jr. said.
But Lorelie Fajardo, deputy spokesperson for Ms Arroyo, said the President has already rejected the resignation even if it hasn’t been submitted yet.
“The President wants Usec Villar to stay because he’s doing a good job,” said Fajardo in a phone interview.
Villar held the post for 10 months, starting May 2007, or shortly after Ms Arroyo formed the PASG through Executive Order No. 624.
AmCham, he said, regretted his decision to go.
In text messages that Villar sent to the Inquirer, AmCham officials supposedly told him: “It’s a sad day for business,” or “Our day is ruined.”
Villar said he would hand in his irrevocable resignation to the President Thursday.
He said he chose an early exit so that Zambales Rep. Ma. Milagros Magsaysay and Albay Rep. Al Francis Bichara would “not have any reason to exert pressure” on Ms Arroyo to force him to resign from the PASG and the Task Force Subic, a similar counter-smuggling body that Ms Arroyo had formed at the Subic Bay Freeport.
“I don’t want her to be beholden to legislators who, for one reason or another, are against the work of the PASG,” Villar said.
A month ago, he assailed Magsaysay and Bichara for proposing the abolition of the PASG when the House committee on good government began an inquiry into the smuggling of vehicles via the Port of Cebu and shortly after he assumed the Task Force Subic post in January.
Bichara, he said, has “no moral basis” to criticize the PASG.
The Albay representative, Villar said, turned out to be the owner of four of 81 luxury vehicles that the PASG seized in an auto shop in Makati City in December last year.
The lawmaker’s two Cherokees, a Volvo and a Jaguar were covered by proper seizure documents, he added.
But Bichara had said his vehicles found in the Makati auto shop were neither imported nor smuggled.
Villar noted that Magsaysay began finding faults with the PASG after Ms Arroyo named him chair of the Task Force Subic.
The two legislators, he said, further led efforts in Congress to cite him in contempt for non-appearance in four hearings on vehicle smuggling.
He challenged Bichara to proceed with the contempt threat.
“I’m willing to go to jail. Just make sure that my cell has a bed and toilet,” he said. By Tonette Orejas - Philippine Daily Inquirer
But Ms Arroyo has rejected his resignation, according to Lorelie Fajardo, deputy spokesperson for Ms Arroyo.
“We should pity the President because of those legislators. She’s being put in a tight spot. I don’t want this issue to come to (a) point where Ms Arroyo would (have to) choose among us,” Undersecretary Antonio Villar Jr. said.
But Lorelie Fajardo, deputy spokesperson for Ms Arroyo, said the President has already rejected the resignation even if it hasn’t been submitted yet.
“The President wants Usec Villar to stay because he’s doing a good job,” said Fajardo in a phone interview.
Villar held the post for 10 months, starting May 2007, or shortly after Ms Arroyo formed the PASG through Executive Order No. 624.
AmCham, he said, regretted his decision to go.
In text messages that Villar sent to the Inquirer, AmCham officials supposedly told him: “It’s a sad day for business,” or “Our day is ruined.”
Villar said he would hand in his irrevocable resignation to the President Thursday.
He said he chose an early exit so that Zambales Rep. Ma. Milagros Magsaysay and Albay Rep. Al Francis Bichara would “not have any reason to exert pressure” on Ms Arroyo to force him to resign from the PASG and the Task Force Subic, a similar counter-smuggling body that Ms Arroyo had formed at the Subic Bay Freeport.
“I don’t want her to be beholden to legislators who, for one reason or another, are against the work of the PASG,” Villar said.
A month ago, he assailed Magsaysay and Bichara for proposing the abolition of the PASG when the House committee on good government began an inquiry into the smuggling of vehicles via the Port of Cebu and shortly after he assumed the Task Force Subic post in January.
Bichara, he said, has “no moral basis” to criticize the PASG.
The Albay representative, Villar said, turned out to be the owner of four of 81 luxury vehicles that the PASG seized in an auto shop in Makati City in December last year.
The lawmaker’s two Cherokees, a Volvo and a Jaguar were covered by proper seizure documents, he added.
But Bichara had said his vehicles found in the Makati auto shop were neither imported nor smuggled.
Villar noted that Magsaysay began finding faults with the PASG after Ms Arroyo named him chair of the Task Force Subic.
The two legislators, he said, further led efforts in Congress to cite him in contempt for non-appearance in four hearings on vehicle smuggling.
He challenged Bichara to proceed with the contempt threat.
“I’m willing to go to jail. Just make sure that my cell has a bed and toilet,” he said. By Tonette Orejas - Philippine Daily Inquirer
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