Golez to quit Palace post, run as congressman for Bacolod

Another Cabinet member is quitting his post next week to seek an electoral post in 2010, a Palace official announced Saturday. Press Secretary Cerge Remonde announced the resignation of Deputy Presidential Spokesperson and Press Undersecretary Anthony Golez, Jr. effective Friday next week in a press briefing from Singapore aired over radio dzRB. Golez, who took his oath under the Nationalist People’s Coalition last August, will run for a congressional seat in Bacolod City in Negros Occidental in the coming elections, Remonde said. Golez’ resignation comes days after Gilberto Teodoro, Jr. steps down from his post as Defense Secretary to run as the administration party’s standard-bearer in 2010. Teodoro will be replaced by National Security Adviser Norberto Gonzales as defense chief. Remonde, who is in Singapore with President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo to attend the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) meeting over the weekend, also said that at least 10 more Cabinet secretaries and undersecretaries would quit their posts in the coming weeks to run for various posts during next year's polls. However, the press secretary refused to name the officials, but said that replacements had been readied for the secretaries and undersecretaries quitting their posts. “We have already more or less identified who are going to resign and run for elective offices. And having identified them, we have also more or less identified their replacements," he said. Three other Cabinet members left their posts in recent months in preparation for their candidacies next year. Just last month, Public Works Secretary Hermogenes Ebdane Jr. and Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process Avelino Razon Jr. quit their posts to join the 2010 presidential race and vie for the mayoral race in Manila, respectively. In September, National Economic Development Authority (NEDA) Secretary Ralph Recto resigned, supposedly to run for a Senate post. - GMANews.TV