The President's Men: Michael Defensor, GMA's 'superboy'

By Rorie R. Fajardo, GMANews.TV At 36, Presidential Chief of Staff Michael Tan Defensor is technically not part of the youth sector, defined as those belonging to the age range 13 - 35. However, he has the penchant for being portrayed as the "youngest ever" in everything he does. Fresh out of college from the University of the Philippines in 1992, Defensor became the youngest councilor of Quezon City. He also became the youngest member of the House of Representatives when he was elected as representative of the third district of Quezon City in 1995. When he was reelected in 1998, he led of a group of young legislators called the 'Spice Boys.' The Spice Boys, composed mostly of scions of political families, figured in the impeachment trial against then president Joseph Estrada. As minority floor leader, Defensor played a key role in the signature drive that secured the automatic transmittal to the Senate of the impeachment complaint against Estrada. The youngest in President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo's Cabinet, Defensor is now on his third assignment from the President since she asked him to join her team in 2001. Defensor was first assigned as the secretary of Housing and Urban Development Council in January 2001, four days after Arroyo was catapulted to power through the so-called Edsa II. After serving as the President's campaign manager in the 2004 elections, Defensor was appointed environment secretary in September 2004. Defensor's newest assignment as presidential chief of staff came after the President in 2005 narrowly survived the impeachment complaint against her based on accusations that she stole the 2004 elections. A passionate defender More than the various high-level posts he occupied at his young age, Defensor is now distinguished for his passionate defense of the President, especially amid consistent negative public ratings. Among the primary tasks of Defensor now as chief of staff is to "create a desirable public image" of the President, the job that repeatedly earns him the ire of politicians and even ordinary Filipinos. "Matanda na nga ako eh (I am now old),"he admits to GMANews.TV in jest when asked about his youthful image. Defensor's ties with Mrs. Arroyo is said to have begun even before he became a public figure. As his family and the Arroyos were neighbors in the posh La Vista subdivision in Quezon City, he grew up with some of Arroyo's children and used to go to the Arroyo house. He also said in previous media interviews that he played basketball with the First Gentleman Miguel Arroyo and the Arroyo children. The President even referred to him as his "son," claimed Defensor. Defensor easily dismisses critics who say the president is not worth the determination he gives to troubleshooting matters for her. "I believe in the President and in what she is doing," Defensor tells GMANews.TV. "She is a very hardworking leader who is just trying to do her best for the country. Makikita mo naman talaga ang galing nya sa pagpapatakbo ng ating gobyerno (You could see how she effectively runs our government)." Journalists who had covered him at the House of Representatives described Defensor as kitikiti, a Filipino term for the organism that transforms into mosquitoes but has been popularly used also to connote restlessness because of the way it behaves in water. "Makikita mo siya kahit saan. Nangunguna siya palagi (You see him everywhere. He always leads things), a long-time radio broadcaster once remarked. Being everywhere just to defend his president is what Defensor has done at the height of the 'Hello Garci' wiretapping scandal in mid-2005. He dared Taguig-Pateros Rep. Allan Peter Cayetano he would resign if the latter proves it was President Arroyo's voice in the Hello Garci tapes. "Prove it and we resign," he said. Unhappy about the young secretary's 'wild-wild west' quips, some Cabinet members asked Defensor to go slow as his wisecracks were not helping the President resolve the crisis. He was less heard the days after challenging Cayetano but only to come back with stronger defense for the President. Defensor presented in a press conference in Manila August 2005 sound engineer Jonathan Tiongco who questioned the authenticity of the Hello Garci tapes. Criticized for politicking instead of focusing on his job at the Department of Environment and Natural Resources, Defensor defended himself by saying there was nothing illegal in what he did. He also said he paid from his own pocket the expenses for the authentication of the tapes in the United States. Defensor denied his role in the recent police attempt to raid the office of the Philippine Center of Investigative Journalism (PCIJ) based on Tiongco's complaints. "I told (PCIJ executive director) Shiela Coronel I didn't have a role in that. I may have presented Tiongco in the past but I have no political connections with him or whatsoever," says Defensor to GMANews.TV Even his fellow Cabinet members could perhaps sense he would do everything in defense of Arroyo. "He (Defensor) is a superboy. We expect him to do good wherever the President places him," media quoted Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita as saying in February 2005 when the President was contemplating Defensor for chief of staff. Paving the way for personal ambition? Despite persistent criticisms against him for his loyalty to Mrs. Arroyo, Defensor says he is just convinced the President should stay in office. "President Arroyo was democratically elected and was legitimately installed as the president of our country," he asserts. "The President, as a human being, commits mistakes but she generally does what she should do to usher our country towards development." "I get criticized left and right, but I accept all of these openly because we are in a democratic society," he adds. He also says he could not please all people at the same time. "I don't take the criticisms personally. I know these come from people who have their own convictions and stand on issues." Some critics claim Defensor has the makings of a traditional politician because of his ability to find his way out of previous controversial statements. Even after President Arroyo lifted her state-of-emergency rule, Defensor still has his hands full with television show appearances and interviews to defend Proclamation 1017, which many saw as an attack on peoples' freedoms. "There was clear threat to grab power. The administration merely did its job in crushing the conspiracy to destroy democracy," he says. Defensor denies he stays near the President to boost his senatorial ambitions for 2007. "I am not even thinking of that," Defensor says. In previous interviews, he evaded questions on his political ambition by saying the Constitution may have been changed next year. Defensor wants history to judge him for what he believes is the job he has done for the country: "This is what I really want: with or without elections or promotion in the job, I want to do things to improve our country. I want to make sure at the end of the day, I have done something good for our people, especially the poor." GMANews.TV