New Press Secretary named soon
(For the week ending May 11, 2008)
In a recent column entitled “Cabinet revamp jokes” in another newspaper, I was extensively quoted as making light of ongoing speculations of a forthcoming Cabinet revamp, including the possible positions I could serve in, other than as Press Secretary and Presidential Spokesperson.

With President Arroyo’s expressed permission, I would like to announce that effective June 22, 2008, I will be joining the Monetary Board.

This is a matter which I have discussed with the President since last year to fulfill a wish of going back to banking, a career which was cut short by the Edsa Revolution, which led to my appointment as OIC Mayor of the Municipality of Muntinlupa by then President Corazon Aquino.

Perhaps, because of my 12 years as a Municipal, then City Mayor of Muntinlupa City, my concurrent stint as Chair of the Metro Manila Authority, (predecessor of the MMDA) and, later, as a Legislator, my background as a banker has been obscured and is known to only a few associates.

Before I accepted the post of OIC Mayor of Muntinlupa shortly after the Edsa Revolution, I was Assistant Vice President in the Bank of the Philippine Islands from 1983 to 1986, doing corporate finance; and, before that, I was Assistant Vice President in the Ayala Investment and Development Corporation from 1980 to 1983, handling International Operations.

During those years, one of my principal responsibilities was to arrange foreign currency financing for prime Philippine companies in coordination with Offshore Banking Units (OBUs), among them Bankers’ Trust, whose country manager at that time was former Finance Secretary Lito Camacho.

I will be announcing my successor as Press Secretary in the coming days.

Prior to my joining the Monetary Board, I will continue to discharge my duties as Presidential Spokesperson. In addition, the President has asked me to serve in the interim as Presidential Adviser on Political Affairs, a post now being held by Secretary Ronaldo Puno in a concurrent capacity.

As I have expressed many times in the past, I can and will continue to serve President Arroyo in any capacity. I totally believe in her ability to govern this nation and to make the bold and difficult decisions to move it closer to first-world status by 2020.

The President has a solid plan in place that focuses on investing in the 3 E’s of economy, education and the environment over the next two years. She and her team, especially the economic managers, are committed to achieving a balanced budget before her term ends.

It is indeed an honor and a privilege to serve in the President’s team.

*****

A few weeks ago, I wrote about the strides made by the Bureau of Corrections in its education programs for inmates and the many success stories that have sprung from its initiatives. I have read that in Texas, there is a program called the “Prison Entrepreneurship Program” (“PEP”) run by an ex-venture capitalist named Catherine Rohr which aims to match veteran executives with prisoners who want to learn how to start a business. This program certainly makes sense as it is a reality that many former inmates still experience difficulty finding employment because their prison record still makes some employers wary.
PEP asks business people to donate, not just money, but their time and experience, to teach prisoners skills that they will need to either enter the work force or start their own businesses. They can choose to hire PEP participants or assist with job leads; serve as an “Executive Mentor,” or serve as an instructor at PEP’s Entrepreneurship School, among others.
In the four years that the program has existed, PEP has recruited more than 200 top-level business executives to participate in more than 20 prison events that had never before taken place behind bars, including venture capital panels. It has established partnerships with MBA programs at Harvard, Stanford, Cal-Berkeley, University of Texas at Austin, Rice University, the University of Dallas and Texas A&M Universities to provide weekly volunteer business plan advisory services for inmates. It has assisted 32 participants in the launch/operation of entrepreneurial businesses in industries including power washing, computer services, landscaping, catering and automotive repair. Most importantly, it has maintained a participant recidivism rate of less than 3 percent.

This is yet another example that solutions to empowering people lie not in politics, but in giving them the means to be self sufficient and build their self confidence and belief in themselves. Perhaps this is a new avenue for prison reform that we should now consider.

*****

Speaking of prison products, inside the President Ramos Conference Room of Malacañan Palace, one can find a huge rectangular table made partly of narra and partly of mahogany. The table was made by prisoners way back in 1937 and was given as a gift by the Prisons Director to the late President Manuel Quezon. The table top is supported on both ends by massive legs which have intricate carvings, depicting women, kneeling back to back, carrying the table top on their shoulders.

Malacañang Museum Curator Jeremy Barns says that President Quezon was so impressed with the furniture that he pardoned the prisoners who carved the massive table. The prisoners’ names have since been inscribed on the underside of the table top.

I asked Jeremy how much such a table, made by prisoners, would be worth now? His reply: “It is hard to put a value as it is one of a kind and very historically, artistically and socially important. But perhaps P10 to P15 million, if I were to have it insured.”

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