ARMED Forces chief Gen. Hermogenes Esperon Jr. yesterday said he would be "honored" if President Arroyo appoints him defense secretary when he retires from the service on May 9.

But he said there is yet no word from Malacañang.

Esperon was supposed to retire February 9 when he reached the mandatory retirement age of 56. Before President Arroyo announced a three-month extension of his term, he also said he would be "honored" to remain in service.

Asked if he would consider another position, if offered, Esperon said: "If I could be of service, if I could help I am one who would not back out, shirk from my duty so let’s see," he said.

Esperon said he plans to go on vacation after his retirement. Given a chance, he said he will visit his daughter who is studying in Japan and another daughter working in Malaysia, and his siblings in United States.

"There are a lot of things that I can do. After that, I can sit down to finish my book," he said.

Asked what the book is about, Esperon said: "It encompasses a lot of things but it would really involve terrorism."

Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita, Press Secretary Ignacio Bunye and Interior Secretary Ronaldo Puno said they do not have knowledge of a post waiting for Esperon.

Puno said: "I think that’s something that’s still being deliberated upon by the President but I think we can all expect General Esperon to be in some responsible position in government after his retirement."

The three officials said no Cabinet revamp is in the offing.

Bunye said should there be any movement in the Cabinet, including entry of former administration candidates, it would just be "part of the normal course of governance.

Esperon dismissed as "speculations" that Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro Jr. is being groomed for the justice portfolio.

On Teodoro, Bunye said while he is qualified for the top justice post, "he is where he should be."

President Arroyo named acting chairman Reynaldo Villar as the permanent chairman of Commission on Audit vice Guillermo Carague whose term expired last February.

Bunye had said Villar’s term would expire on Feb. 2, 2011 or after three years after he assumed the post as acting chairman.

He said that while under the Constitution, the COA chairman should serve a seven-year term, Villar would only be in office for three years because he served the first four years as associate commissioner.

Villar, a lawyer and an alumnus of the Ateneo de Manila University, first entered the COA in 1988 as a staff officer. He also served as prosecutor and later as human resource management officer.

He later became the head of the Department Legislative Liaison Officer with the rank of assistant commissioner. He was appointed commissioner in February 2004 with the retirement of Raul C. Flores.

Villar was provincial board member of Pangasinan from 1980 to 1986.

He also served as a legal assistant to the governor of Pangasinan in 1968 before becoming technical assistant to the general manager of the Philippine Virginia Tobacco Administration.