Is Roxas up to it?

When President Aquino appointed Manuel “Mar” Roxas to head the Department of Interior and Local Government on Aug. 31, he laid down the rules of engagement so it would be clear to the public what to expect from Roxas, and for him to know what the President wants him to do.

Five days after the issuance of the marching orders, Roxas has come under criticism for not knowing his direction. For the purpose of assisting clarity, let me summarize briefly his mandate. The President said: “With Jesse’s (Robredo’s) death, we were afraid that the seeds of diligence and his honest leadership would go to waste. After all, I had trusted Jesse with many important tasks. This is why we now need someone under whom our agenda will flourish. Someone … who will serve as a link—to ensure that all of us, from police to our local governments, are united in steering the country in one direction.

“It seemed fitting that the leader of one of the oldest political parties in the country should himself dialogue with politicians. Who else possesses these characteristics but the president of our party, Mar Roxas? We are appointing him today as the new secretary of the interior and local government. We are giving Mar the freedom to choose those he will work with … as well as the heads of the agencies under his department.” ”

The President was well aware of Roxas’ expertise in financial affairs, saying that “though he may be more experienced in the financial sector, we have all witnessed his exemplary performance in the DOTC (Department of Transportation and Communications).”

Mr. Aquino clearly wanted a political pointman in the DILG rather than a technocrat, and this preference in the shuffling of the Cabinet following Robredo’s demise was determined by the fact that the administration faces local elections at its mid-term in May 2013, thus the need for a fence-mending man at the head of the department.

The President had received advice from Liberal Party leaders, among them House Majority Leader Neptali Gonzales, who counseled: “It would be better if he appointed an ally from his party. The DILG is the President’s bridge to local governance. It would be good if they have one vision for local governance.” Some LP members in the House have said that the President made up his mind to shift Roxas to the DILG from the DOTC, where it appeared he was in his element, “to sustain the gains made by Robredo who expanded LP membership among governors and mayors.” Although there were a few LP members whose names were on the short list of the President, the choice fell on Roxas, and the argument that party members had priority to fill key Cabinet posts prevailed.

A week after the  mandate of Roxas was spelled out—that he was given a free hand in the choice of people he wanted to work with—the issue of whether he was in full control of the DILG or would be sharing power with someone else in a truncated portfolio emerged. It was not clear whether Undersecretary Rico Puno, who was in charge of police matters in a power-sharing arrangement with Robredo, who was in charge of local governments, was in or out. This power-sharing had tied the hands of Robredo and undermined his authority. Whether or not Roxas would tolerate this humiliating arrangement is not clear.

Executive Secretary Paquito Ochoa, who served as acting head of the DILG until Roxas’ appointment, had told reporters that “up to now, he (Puno) is still undersecretary of DILG.”

Ochoa conceded that Roxas would be in charge of the Philippine National Police and that the President had given Roxas “a free hand” as to the composition of his team. Roxas had said upon taking office that all appointed positions in the DILG would be considered vacant, including those coterminous with Robredo’s tenure.

Roxas had moved quickly to assert his political role, apparently to counter perceptions that, as a technocrat in training and experience, he was ill at ease in his political job—something of a square peg in a round hole. He laid down the rule that politicians aspiring for inclusion in the Liberal Party senatorial lineup had to go through a tough screening process, saying that the President was looking for “true believers in his reform agenda.” He said the President wanted “true believers, and not just people who would want to wear campaign vests and barnstorm with us.”

Senatorial aspirants should share the President’s personal belief that the people are their “boss” as well as his advocacy of transparent and accountable governance, Roxas had said. The 2013 elections, in which half the Senate seats are up for grabs, are seen to highlight the fight between the ruling coalition built around the LP and the opposition led by Vice President Jejomar Binay, who narrowly defeated Roxas in the vice presidential race in 2010.

Binay was one of those bruited about to replace Robredo, but he declared that he was no longer interested. In the early days of the Aquino administration, he had cast his eyes on the DILG top post as a launching platform for a presidential candidacy in 2016. But now, he said he was happy with his job as head of the National Housing Authority.

Roxas’ appointment to the DILG is seen as a move to neutralize, if not marginalize, Binay. How the politicization of Roxas in the DILG will affect his ability to deliver results in his department, according to President Aquino’s “matuwid na daan” ideology, is a matter that exercises public curiosity.