The Malacanang presidential palace admitted on Saturday that President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo appointed some 169 close aides to various positions in the government a few weeks before she is scheduled to hand over power to President-apparent Senator Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III on June 30. A sitting president is not supposed to make such “midnight appointments” since these are specifically prohibited under the 1987 Philippine Constitution. An earlier report said Arroyo made over 200 appointments days before the 60-day ban on appointments prior to elections. But deputy presidential spokesman Rogelio Peyuan insisted that the appointments of the 169 were “above board.” “We made sure the appointments were above board and within the bounds of the law,” he said during a radio interview. One of the appointees, who is Arroyo's personal manicurist, earlier turned down the post offered to her by her boss. Manicurist Anita Carpon said she will not accept her appointment to the board of the Home Development Mutual Fund (Pag-IBIG), a government agency that provides housing and other loans to workers. This prompted critics, including Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile, to ask the other Arroyo appointees to likewise reject their appointments to give the incoming administration a free hand in reorganizing the bureaucracy. Enrile also asked Malacanang to persuade the new appointees to quit their posts. However, Peyuan indicated that Malacanang is not inclined to do so. “We leave it to the appointees as a personal decision. Don't worry, many of the appointees are decent,” he said. In a press briefing on Friday, Press Secretary Jun Icban announced that Carpon is declining her appointment. “She felt it was too much of an honor. She did not want to get the president in any further trouble,” Icban said. Edwin Lacierda, Aquino's spokesman, commended Carpon for her sense of righteousness. Aquino earlier said he will review Arroyo's midnight appointments once he has formed his government. Aquino has said that he will review the apparent midnight appointments.“I intend to exercise that prerogative under Article VII Section 14 of the Constitution where we have up to 90 days to void all of those illegal appointments,” Aquino said. “We will also study and judge her appointments on a case-to-case basis. It will be done fairly and purely on the merits,” he added. Meanwhile, a militant group urged Arroyo and other government officials to learn from the “humility” of her manicurist, who declined her appointment to the Pag-IBIG Fund's Board of Trustees. “Gloria's manicurist as it may seem has more sense of righteousness than most government officials and wannabees. As many try to retain their posts or get into Congress by whatever means, a manicurist showed them that not everybody wants power,” said Tessa Lopez, spokesperson of the militant group Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (Bayan)-Bicol. Arroyo herself will stay in the government as representative of Pampanga even after her term as president ends on June 30. Lopez said the refusal of Carpon to accept the government post offered her by Arroyo is “a breath of fresh air from the cutthroat world of Philippine politics.”
