Angara remains as revamp rumors fade

Education Secretary Sonny Angara has dodged a bullet.

- IRIS GONZALES

There will be no Cabinet revamp, as Executive Secretary Ralph Recto said. At least for now - because you never really know what happens next when you're in government. One serves at the pleasure of the President, which could sometimes mean one serves at the pleasure - or should I say displeasure - of political foes in the halls of power.

'That's crazy'

But in the case of Angara, no less than President Marcos himself seemed in disbelief over the grapevine talk that his education secretary would vacate his post. At the Likhang Filipino exhibit opening last Jan. 15, Marcos told Angara, “Magre-resign ka daw? That's crazy!”

Marcos then jested to the reporters shadowing them that perhaps all the talk was coming from them, the media.

Angara was among the Cabinet members rumored to be revamped, along with several others.

The truth, I'm told, is that there really was a group within President Marcos' circle who wanted the education chief out so they could put their candidate instead. But when the grapevine started buzzing about it, various groups voiced their support for Angara. In short, public support for the education chief was too strong to ignore.

In fact, a recent non-commissioned Tangere satisfaction and trust survey showed that Angara ranked highest among President Marcos' Cabinet members with 52.71 percent satisfaction rating and 53.95 percent trust rating.

The survey was conducted among 1,600 respondents from Jan. 7 to 10.