WASHINGTON, DC – We learned belatedly here that Press Undersecretary Milton Alingod has been upgraded to full-fledged Press Secretary in place of Hernani Braganza who was appointed political affairs adviser of President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo.

We see the post of Press Secretary in the Palace setup as more administrative than policy. This makes for smoother relationships between and among media-related personalities orbiting around the President.

It is thus easier to define turfs, for instance, of the Press Secretary in relation to presidential spokesman Toting Bunye. Alingod looks after the media infrastructure while Bunye focuses on the substance of the President (not necessarily of the presidency).

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TOTEM POLE: But that is no guarantee of trouble-free operations for either or both of the press secretary and the presidential spokesman.

As things stand, according to insiders, they have to contend with chief of staff Rigoberto Tiglao in the Office of the President who cannot seem to shake off the instincts of a presidential spokesman and a press secretary, which he was in his previous lives.

A recurring question in private media, one of their major publics, is what spokesman Bunye is supposed to do when Tiglao wanders into “spokesmanning” for his (their) boss. In the normal course of the bureaucracy, Tiglao’s voice should be heard above that of Bunye, because Toting is lower in the totem pole.

We hope this does not cramp the style of Bunye, who might just develop the habit of always waiting for Tiglao to utter the first word on any subject pertaining to the President.

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RUFINO MARGINALIZED?: Looking beyond their tight circle, we see a listless Joey Rufino, presidential liaison officer for political affairs, whose functions suddenly grew a bit fuzzy with the entry of Braganza as political affairs adviser.

Their common world appear to have grown smaller. And space is essential to survival.

The younger Braganza’s voice is louder, at least in the few times we spotted him in the coffee shop hangouts of press people, but will he have more access to the presidential ear than Rufino?

We remember Rufino as the presidential adviser who said early on, too early we think, that Mrs. Arroyo would run for her own six-year term in 2004.

That declaration was made by Rufino not too long after GMA’s controversial installation on Jan. 20, 2001, as constitutional replacement of then President Joseph Estrada, who stepped out of Malacanang under still controversial circumstances.

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COUNTERPRODUCTIVE: We were then surprised by Rufino’s fearless forecast because the correct position in those tenuous times was for GMA to just keep saying that she was there to serve and not to prepare for 2004.

We thought that that statement of Rufino, even if reflective of the true intentions of his principal, immediately marked GMA as a fair target of political assassination and her administration a victim of obstructionism.

His premature statement was counterproductive, despite (or because of) its honesty. As political adviser, he should have been the first to know that honesty is not exactly the hallmark of the more successful Filipino politician.

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STARTING FROM ZERO: Buffeted by the political storm whipped up by relentless obstructionism, Mrs. Arroyo tried to do something about it by announcing on Dec. 30, 2002, that she was not running for president in the 2004 election.

At that late date, just 17 months before the 2004 presidential derby, GMA had to take back that unfortunate declaration of her supposed intention to run. She had to start all over again from zero.

Will it be a little different now with Braganza by the President’s elbow? Maybe, especially if Braganza succeeds in lowering the default volume of his voice.

We’re sure that at some fine-tuned moment in the near future, President Arroyo will announce her running for president in 2004, in answer to the call of duty. How will Braganza choreograph the show?

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IMPEACHMENT RAPS: Malacañang has made it known that it would not meddle in the handling of the impeachment complaint filed by Mr. Estrada against Chief Justice Hilario G. Davide Jr. and seven associate justices for their participation in his ouster in 2001.

There was really no need to announce that, because such a hands-off attitude is demanded by the circumstances. There is separation of powers among the three branches of government. Besides, GMA was the direct beneficiary of the removal of Mr. Estrada.

Another reason, of course, is that nobody believes anyway that Malacanang will just sit idly by as the impeachment circus comes into town.

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COJUANGCO HAND: Talking of beneficiaries, San Miguel boss Danding Cojuangco, a possible presidential candidate in 2004, is an unintended beneficiary of the filing of the impeachment charges whose outcome is key to the political fate of President Arroyo.

Per rules outlined in the Constitution, impeachment complaints are filed with the House of Representatives, which will see if there is a prima facie case, much in the same manner that state prosecutors go over criminal complaints to see if they merit filing with the courts.

Now it so happens that Cojuangco has a sizeable number of congressmen under his influence. We won’t be surprised, or even scandalized, if congressmen close to him vote in the impeachment proceedings guided by signals from the Boss.

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COCO LEVY CASES: Don’t be surprised either if Mr. Estrada and Mrs. Arroyo will send emissaries to Cojuangco to, huh, get an advancer of where he stands on impeachment issues.

We heard that Messrs. Estrada and Cojuangco are not exactly in the best of terms at this time. And with him out of power, the former president may have to exert extra effort to get Cojuangco’s sympathetic ear.

On the other hand, Mrs. Arroyo has on her private agenda the closure before the end of her term in 2004 of the coconut levy cases of Cojuangco.

Despite the fact that the cases are being heard by the courts, Malacanang still has a decisive say in the approval of the compromise formula where the Tarlac political bigwig will keep some and give up some of the disputed coconut funds.

Note that the justices of the Supreme Court, who are the accused in the impeachment complaint, will preside over the final hearing of the coconut levy funds cases. Very interesting, indeed.