MikeLigalig.com

By TJ Burgonio
Philippine Daily Inquirer

With barely six months to go before the 2010 national elections, President Macapagal-Arroyo’s chief political strategist has resigned to undergo intensive rehabilitation treatment for a spinal condition.

Gabriel Claudio, the presidential adviser on political affairs, is quitting even as the President is embroiled in yet another controversy over her decision to run for a congressional seat in her Pampanga home province.

Claudio’s resignation takes effect Saturday.

Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita announced Claudio’s resignation and his temporary replacement by Prospero Pichay, a ruling party official and former congressman who now heads the Local Water Utilities Administration at a press briefing Friday.

Yet Claudio, said his resignation was not a sudden decision and should not become an occasion for malicious speculation.

“I hope nobody ascribes any political motive or angle to this resignation because there is none. It’s just a back problem that needs a back job. So I hope there is no backbiting,” he said.