Leyte governor to head DOE; Almendras to Palace

Leyte Governor Jericho “Icot” Petilla will be named energy secretary, replacing Rene Almendras, in a minor revamp of President Aquino’s two-year-old Cabinet, Budget Secretary Florencio Abad confirmed on Tuesday.

“A formal announcement will be made soon,” Abad said when reached by phone. He did not provide other details.

Another Malacañang official, who requested anonymity because he was not authorized to talk about the matter, said Almendras would go to the Office of the President (OP), “but a formal designation will be announced when he takes his oath.”

Asked if Almendras would replace Executive Secretary (ES) Paquito Ochoa, the official said: “No. ES Ochoa will stay as ES.”

Presidential spokesman Edwin Lacierda neither confirmed nor denied Petilla’s appointment at a briefing in the Palace. “We have no advice from the Palace yet. Let’s wait for the official announcement if there’s any,” he said.

Mother spills beans

In Tacloban City, the third-term governor’s mother, Mayor Remedios Petilla of Palo town in Leyte, broke the news of her son’s appointment as energy czar in an interview with the Inquirer on Saturday. She even disclosed that there would be an oath-taking ceremony supposedly on October 21.

“His appointment was hastened when it was known that the (political) coast is now clear,” she said. The Petillas are political allies of the President.

Petilla, 49, chose not to run for any elective post in the May 13, 2013, elections, contrary to an earlier rumor that he would seek a congressional post in Leyte’s first district.

Reached by the Inquirer, Petilla confirmed that there was an offer for him to join the Cabinet, but said he had yet to receive any appointment paper.

“There are talks but I have to be honest with you that any pronouncement is actually premature because there is no appointment at this point although there were already advanced talks,” he said.

“I serve under the pleasure of the President because he is the appointing authority. It is up to him when he will appoint me. At this point, in the absence of any document, these are all talks,” Petilla said.

The governor said the President had offered him a Cabinet position as early as 2010, but he did not accept it as there were still things he had to do as Leyte governor.

Petilla, who is on his third and last term as governor, was asked by journalists to comment on the matter after he led in the unveiling of a marker at the provincial capitol building for the bronze award the province received from the Department of the Interior and Local Government for the seal of good housekeeping.

Asked if he would accept a Cabinet post, Petilla said he would “most likely” accept the offer from the President, whom he described as a “person full of integrity.”

The governor said he was flattered by the offer, saying the job could be good for Leyte and the rest of the country. “If it will be offered to me, most likely, I will accept the offer … for the good of the people of Leyte and for the people of the country,” he said.

“You know, the position is sensitive because it deals with energy. Anything done now by the secretary and by the DOE will actually affect the power and gas situation 10 years from now,” said Petilla, who obtained his Bachelor of Science degree in management engineering from Ateneo de Manila University.

Mayor Petilla agreed that the appointment of her son as energy secretary would be a big help to the region.

“The position is not just all about energy. It also deals with financial matters, which the governor can handle so well,” she said.

Tesda chief, too

In Manila, Secretary Joel Villanueva, director general of the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (Tesda), has not denied reports that he would also be moved to a different agency.

In a phone interview, Villanueva said he, too, heard the rumor but that he had not yet talked to the President about it.

It was also unclear if Almendras would be moved to the Presidential Management Staff (PMS) to replace Julia Abad, who has long wanted to quit her post and return to the private sector. The graduate of Harvard Kennedy School of Government also wants to relocate to Washington.

The Palace official said the President had yet to decide whether Almendras would become PMS chief or occupy another Cabinet-level position and hold office right at the Palace.

The PMS is the workhorse of the OP, “providing relevant and timely information to the President and helping build and nurture a bureaucracy marked by good governance and leadership by example,” according to the agency’s website.

Its mandate is to be the “primary government agency responsible for providing technical assistance and advice to the President in exercising overall management of the development process.”

When asked if he would be taking his oath on October 21, Petilla said he learned that it had been reset.

If he assumes the position of energy secretary, he will be replaced by Vice Gov. Mimietta Bagulaya.