Aquino: No horse-trading on Lim, poll postponement

President Benigno S. Aquino III. EDWIN BACASMAS/INQUIRER

BAGUIO CITY—President Benigno Aquino III on Friday said there was no exchange of favors in the suspension of the elections of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) and the resignation of Tourism Secretary Alberto Lim.

Mr. Aquino, who visited the summer capital on Friday, issued the statement in reply to a question seeking his views on reports that Lim was a victim of political horse-trading.

Lim was quoted this week as saying that Malacañang had not taken action on a Commission on Audit report of anomalous transactions traced to Mark Lapid, chief operating officer of the Tourism Infrastructure and Enterprise Zone Authority (formerly Philippine Tourism Authority) because Mr. Aquino supposedly needed to address political considerations.

Lapid is the son of Senator Manuel Lapid, who voted with 12 other senators to postpone the August 8 ARMM polls.

Not related

Mr. Aquino said reports linking Lim’s resignation to a supposed Palace deal to secure Senator Lapid’s vote and freeze the ARMM elections “are not exactly related to each other.”

“Ang relation lang iyong (The only relationship one can fathom are the) persons involved. Wala talagang quid pro quo doon (There was no quid pro quo deal there). Actually, I haven’t talked to Senator Lapid for [a] very, very long [time],” he said.

“[The ARMM election is] a totally separate issue—totally different issue,” he said.

Mr. Aquino said Malacañang would need Mark Lapid to first answer the charges laid out by the COA report to explain why government has not yet reacted to the Tieza anomalies.

“May prosesong (There is a process) involved [in such matters]. Kapag may in-accuse, iyong (If somebody is accused, he) has the right to explain himself,” he said.

He said he was aware of what directions the government tourism offices had taken, helping to fast-track the commercial operations of the airline company AirAsia by December and addressing the “attendant issue” of the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines that would convince Europe to restore the country’s Category 1 air safety status.

Hampered growth

He said the recent downgrade to Category 2 “hampers the growth of our tourism.”

Mr. Aquino said all of these developments are being orchestrated under the watch of Lim, who is due to leave office at the end of the month.

The President has not yet named Lim’s replacement, although he told reporters here that the prospective secretary has been given 12 days from August 19 to decide whether he would accept the offer.

Mr. Aquino said his choice for Lim’s replacement “has the qualities necessary that I think will foster tourism growth, but I would rather let him talk about the plans that he would be continuing.”

“His exact quote the last time I spoke to him was, 48 na raw ang ‘bagong-lumang’ mga kaibigan, iyon ang naalala niya (He has discovered 48 new-old friends). Dumarami nga ang lobbyists na pumupunta sa kanya (More and more lobbyists have been approaching him) at that point in time that he’s studying everything in sight—from the tourism act…to how to work with government,” Mr. Aquino said.

“In 12 days, he’ll be ready [to decide],” he said.