Petilla has ‘mixed feelings’ after Aquino rejected resignation

EDWIN BACASMAS/INQUIRER

MANILA, Philippines – Energy Secretary Carlos Jericho Petilla on Friday said he had mixed feelings when President Benigno Aquino III rejected his resignation.

“It’s a mixed feeling. In a sense I’m flattered but I did say that I was going to hand in my resignation,” Petilla said of his meeting with the President on Thursday.

In an interview over Inquirer Radio 990AM, the Petilla said he did not expect that the President would convince him to keep his post.

But Petilla said he was happy with Aquino’s decision.

“It’s not really for me. It’s for the linesmen…(who) really worked hard days…(and) skipped Noche Buena,” he said.

He added that Aquino’s decision “not only (attested to) my performance but really the performance of all the people who worked very hard for the restoration of power.”

The former governor of Leyte earlier promised to restore electricity in areas hit by Supertyphoon “Yolanda” before Christmas day. However, when the deadline came, his agency failed to energize three towns of the 320 that experienced weeks of power outage.

Fourteen hours later, the towns of Guiuan, Salcedo and Mercedes in Eastern Samar were connected back to the power grid.

After Petilla’s meeting with Aquino, Presidential spokesperson Edwin Lacierda issued a statement, calling the Secretary’s performance “excellent”.

“The accomplishments of Secretary Petilla speak for themselves: First, from his original target of six months he was able to restore power in roughly 40 days. Second, within that period, Secretary Petilla was able to energize 317 out of 320 affected towns,” Lacierda said.

During the meeting, Aquino told him he could not resign amid the many problems faced by the energy sector. “I know you have your word to keep but you also have a job to do,” he was told.

Petilla, who hails from typhoon-hit Leyte province, said he gave his promise to the people because he saw it as an opportunity.

“When I was there and I looked at the faces of the people…It’s a face of despair. It’s a face of hopelessness. It’s a face of ‘Let’s get out of here and I don’t want to ever come back again’…I wanted to give them a December 24 deadline to tell them, ‘Don’t leave,’” he said.

“I have to give something more than a date. The only way I can give them hope is to tell them that we’re all in this together. And if I don’t make that deadline I’d gladly step down,” Petilla explained.