Angelhouser | A Journal By Angelica Bautista Viloria

Thursday, July 19, 2007

A Few Versatile Men

Angelo Reyes has been named as Energy Secretary while Lito Atienza, former Mayor of Manila, has been named as Environment Secretary. Angelo Reyes was previously at the following departments: defense, interior, and environment.

I wonder what skills you need to have to be able to shift so easily from one area to another. Should I learn that skill? I've been looking around for career opportunities in the last two months and so far, people treat me like I have a big sign that says CREDIT or RESEARCH on my forehead. Not that I want to stay away from these fields forever but sometimes, you just want to try something else like sales or marketing -- but then when they see my resume, they classify me right away into areas that involve the writing of reports.

Back to government. Why do we keep seeing the same old names being moved around? Are there no other men capable of leading these departments? And if such capable men exist, do they really not want to have anything to do with government? (That was a rhetorical question, I guess.) And why is it that every time an issue arises concerning the appointees of GMA, some spokesperson will always say that these people "serve at the pleasure of the president"? When will government officials serve at the pleasure of Filipinos in general?

2 comments:

Gilbert Yap Tan said...

Hi Angelica,

Thanks for your kind comments. Yes, you're right, I'm lucky to have her as my mentor. I try to pay it forward by taking in young writers under my wings too. :)

Anonymous said...

i stopped caring about philippine politics. i don't know. it seems like a hopeless case to me. on the other hand, i saw that peso is getting stronger against the american dollar. i guess this means our economy is doing well.

maybe the president chooses the same people because she trusts them. it's kinda hard to pick a new guy in politics coz you might be placing an enemy who will pretty much hold a hidden agenda against you. politics is a totally different battlefield.