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Tuesday, November 25, 2003
De Villa quits as presidential adviser
REPORMA chairman Renato De Villa Monday resigned from the Cabinet as adviser on strategic concerns, following his decision to support the Presidential bid of former Education Sec. Raul Roco Sr.
De Villa, in an interview by the ABS-CBN News Channel, said he initially submitted his resignation to Arroyo last Oct. 10 after Reporma bolted the administration People Power Coalition (PPC) but she did not accept it.
He said Arroyo prevailed on him to stay on and he agreed. But de Villa stressed that he would leave the Cabinet if he or Reporma decides to support another candidate.
"When my political party, the Reporma, disengaged itself from the PPC when she announced her candidacy as the Lakas candidate, it became incompatible for me to become a Presidential adviser and at the same time," he said.
De Villa said Reporma reached its decision to support Roco during the party's executive council meeting Saturday.
De Villa said Reporma, Aksyon and Promdi have now formed the "Alyansa ng Pag-asa" which would have a secretariat and headquarters in Quezon City. He said the coalition would hold a national convention on Nov. 30 at the Folk Arts Theater. He said they are open to other political parties who are interested in joining them.
President Arroyo, for her part, said the changes in her Cabinet will continue but the business community should not lose confidence on her administration because the revamp is "within the normal run of governance."
Arroyo said some Cabinet members are also expected to resign because they will be vying for electoral posts.
The resignation of Finance Sec. Jose Isidro Camacho last Friday has caused business confidence on the government to plunge and it also contributed to the fall of the peso.
Presidential spokesman Ignacio Bunye said Central Bank authorities have the power and mechanism to cope with the peso plunge. SCT
(November 25, 2003 issue)
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