Lawmakers claim executives do not have the country's interests at heart The presidential palace and business figures have been forced to defend Philippine President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo's choice of new economic managers after critics vowed to fight the appointments, saying they were too close to big business. Mrs Arroyo disclosed last week that she had first consulted business groups before nominating former trade secretary Cesar Purisima to her cabinet's finance post, retired Nestle Philippines chief executive Juan Santos as Trade Secretary, bureaucrat Raphael Lotilla as Energy Secretary, and cargo magnate Alberto Lina as customs bureau chief. Presidential spokesman Ignacio Bunye said all four 'enjoy the confidence of the business sectors and they shall serve the interests of ordinary Filipinos'. The appointments have met the approval of many business leaders in the Philippines, with Francis Chua, executive vice-president of the Federation of Filipino-Chinese Chambers of Commerce, saying 'we agree with her choices'. But some lawmakers indicated the new appointees would face a tough time in being confirmed by senators and congressmen from both ruling and opposition blocs. Congressman Teodoro Casino, representing the labour group Bayan Muna, questioned Mr Santos' ability to serve the ordinary Filipino. 'To us he is the hatchet man who basically removed all union members from Nestle, cut up Nestle and busted the union.' Aware of such criticism, Mr Santos said he would focus on promoting the growth of small and medium-scale enterprises in the provinces. He also promised to divest shareholdings in various firms to avoid conflict of interest - an issue which lawmakers have raised against him and fellow appointee Mr Lina. Senators have questioned the actions of Mr Lotilla, who will handle the energy portfolio, as head of the state-owned Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management Corp. It oversees the sale of power plants and transmission assets of the deeply indebted National Power Corp. Administration Senator Joker Arroyo questioned why Mr Lotilla sold the Masinloc power plant for US$561 million - payable in seven years - to YNN, a Filipino-Australian consortium with a paid-up capital of only 1 million pesos and no track record in power generation.
