Survivors

Time flies fast that I did not realize Bunye has survived the so-called Palace snake pit had he not told us about his marking his fifth year in office. He could very well distinguish himself as one of the few survivors in the administration of President Arroyo.

Over lunch he hosted for us STAR editors last week, Bunye shared with us the “secret” of his survival in the Arroyo Cabinet. “One must share the vision of President Arroyo of leaving behind a legacy that will catapult the Philippines to the ranks of First World countries,” Bunye said without batting an eyelash. True to his devoted job as spokesman, he went on to say that one of the so-called “legacies” of the President is the unprecedented “24 consecutive quarters” of economic growth of the country.

Bunye tersely described his stint at the Palace as “challenging.” The usually articulate Bunye did not elaborate why. I had the opportunity to cover him in at least three of those five years he has been in office at the Palace. So more or less, I could very well approximately guess why he calls it “challenging” to be the official spokesperson for a woman President like Mrs. Arroyo.

Like any other Cabinet official, Bunye acts as the alter ego of the Chief Executive. But this is no license for anyone of them to speak for the President on any official matters without clearance from her. He knows very well it would be over-stepping his bounds as presidential spokesman if he puts his own thoughts or personal opinion whenever he speaks in behalf of the President. That’s why I think Bunye is surviving up to now this very “challenging” Cabinet post.

For one, it is difficult and very dangerous for one’s job as spokesman to second-guess what exactly is the thinking or sentiment of the President at each and every national and local issue asked of him by media during almost daily press briefings he does at the Palace. That is why Bunye is the most recognizable Arroyo Cabinet official. However, this did not encourage him to try his luck to run in the last May 14 elections.

Bunye though is an old hand in politics. He was mayor of Muntinlupa City for 12 years, the first three years of which was as officer-in-charge from 1986-1989. He was also a one-term Congressman in the lone district of Muntinlupa. But he obviously survives the Palace snake pit by gut feel and instincts as a former newsman to keep his nose for news clean.

Bunye first assumed as press secretary along with former fellow newsman Rigoberto Tiglao serving as the presidential spokesman. While doing the rounds of visits of media entities as press secretary in his first year in office, Bunye recalled veteran newshen Jullie Yap-Daza, then the Manila Standard editor-in-chief, teasingly predicted he would not last more than “six months” in his post. Well, Bunye more than surpassed the six months and is now on towards his sixth year in office.

When Tiglao went on a one-year study leave in Tokyo , he took over his post in concurrent capacity as presidential spokesman. A year later, Tiglao returned to his job as Palace spokesman and Bunye returned to being press secretary. In the aftermath of a Cabinet shake-up in 2003, Mrs. Arroyo appointed Tiglao as her presidential chief-of-staff and Bunye became her presidential spokesman. Then Department of Agrarian Reform Secretary Hernando “Nani” Braganza was named as her new press secretary. Braganza though, lasted only for eight months as press secretary. Braganza resigned to run and later won as mayor of Alaminos, Pangasinan. Bunye was designated anew as press secretary cum presidential spokesman.

But some of his colleagues working in the dark corners of the Palace were obviously not comfortable with Bunye’s holding on to these two powerful posts. After the May 2004 presidential elections, these people were able to convince President Arroyo to reorganize the government information officials and put them under one big umbrella called Office of the Communications Director (OCD).
The President designated former Secretary Silvestre “Yongyong” Afable Jr. to head the OCD. Afable also served at one time as Mrs.Arroyo’s presidential spokesman for a short while prior to Bunye’s appointment. When Afable resigned to head the government panel holding peace talks with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), the OCD collapsed. The abolition of the OCD brought Bunye back to his twin posts.

Incidentally, Afable recently resigned as chief peace negotiator with the MILF before last week’s incident in Tipo-tipo, Basilan where 10 of the 14 Marines killed by the MILF rebels were also decapitated and mutilated. It is still unclear why Afable resigned from the negotiating panel. With the kind of people he negotiates with, survival instincts perhaps pushed Afable to get out of it pronto.
Meanwhile, I heard from the grapevines that erstwhile presidential chief-of-staff Michael Defensor who lost in the last May 14 mid-term elections is making a comeback as private sector nominee to the Board of Directors of the sequestered United Coconut Planters Bank. That is one way of going around the one-year ban rule against losing candidates from being appointed to government posts. With the vacancies that the President created by demanding the courtesy resignations of her appointees in many state-owned firms, expect more ”survivors” to be back soon in the Arroyo administration.

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