Somewhere in Malacañang Palace, there is an entire room filled with appointment papers awaiting the signature of President Noynoy Aquino. But no significant headway has been made in reducing the volume of the papers lining the walls and the floor of the room in recent months.
Contrary to popular belief, many of the papers appointing people to various vacated government positions that need to be filled up by the new administration have long been vetted and cleared by other offices, particularly that of Executive Secretary Paquito Ochoa Jr. While Ochoa himself has been known to indulge in the occasional night out for a drink (or many), he’s not really to blame for the delays; the holdup really takes place in Aquino’s own office.
At one point, we’ve been told, the President agreed to set aside a specific time of day to sign the various appointment papers, just so they don’t lie there unmoved until the end of Aquino’s term. But on the very first day that he started signing them, he quickly got irritated and refused to affix any more of his signatures, claiming he had more important things to do.
Since then, the papers have returned to their original untouched condition. And no one knows when Aquino will get around to signing – or even seeing – them again.
