He defects to camp of rival for presidency, days after the finance chief's resignation
Another senior Philippine minister resigned yesterday, further eroding support for President Gloria-Macapagal Arroyo in the run-up to the 2004 elections and seemingly improving the chances of another of her former aides, Raul Roco.
Renato de Villa quit his post as presidential adviser on strategic concerns, hours before formally forging a political alliance with Mr Roco, who had served as Mrs Arroyo's education minister. Mr De Villa heads the Reporma Party, which allied itself yesterday with Mr Roco's Aksyon Demokratiko and Lito Osmena's Promdi Party.
In the 1998 presidential polls, all three men had run against each other and, despite a lack of funds or party machinery, secured eight million votes between them.
Former president Joseph Estrada, who is detained and being tried for several charges including economic plunder, won that election with 10.7 million votes.
Mr De Villa's resignation came on the heels of that of the finance minister, Jose Camacho, who cited 'burnout' and job stress for his departure.
But a government source said Mr Camacho threw in the towel after Mrs Arroyo failed to support his efforts to replace Winston Garcia as head of the Government Service Insurance System. Political accommodation, the source said, was behind this; Mr Garcia is the scion of a prominent political clan, the Garcias of Cebu in central Philippines.