Philippine security adviser quits

Philippine security adviser quits

PHILIPPINES: President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo has lost another
member of her cabinet to the campaign for May's election in the
Philippines after Roilo Golez, her national security adviser,
quit to run for Congress.

Golez, a graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy and a three-term
congressman before he joined Arroyo's team in 2001, oversaw
policies on antiterror efforts against homegrown and regional
militants but had no direct control over security forces.

His widely expected departure will bring a fifth new face into
Arroyo's inner circle with just over four months until national
elections on May 10.

An exhausted Jose Camacho quit as finance secretary in
November, Foreign Secretary Blas Ople died last month and Manuel
Roxas and Simeon Datumanong, the trade and justice secretaries,
left recently to prepare their congressional campaigns.

"All systems go," Golez told Reuters on Thursday, adding he
had received Arroyo's "full blessings and understanding" during a
private breakfast with the president on Wednesday. -- Reuters