Bunye made the revelation recently even before the President could make it public. Knowing how loyal he has been to the President, I don’t think Bunye beat her to the announcement to force the President’s hand or leave her no choice. Maybe he just really is so eager be free of the Palace, what Imee Marcos once called a "snake pit," and try to bring back some normalcy to his life.

As he embarks on this new phase of his career we should all wish him well. We all know that he leaves public service – or at least leaves the post which had put him right on the frontlines during some of the toughest times of this presidency – having earned the highest marks for loyalty to the president, at the expense of his own credibility.

I first heard about Bunye from a boss we both served, albeit at different times: Enrique Zobel. On a number of occasions, EZ had spoken of Bunye – and very highly at that – and in fact named Bunye as someone he would like to have as executive secretary in a hypothetical scenario where he, EZ, was president of the Philippines. EZ believed, admired and respected Bunye’s abilities as a manager, having seen this up close when both worked at Ayala in the 1970s and early 80s. In fact, I even saw a number of pictures of a very young Ignacio Bunye sitting in front of EZ and apparently reporting on something (he had a notebook or a pad paper in hand and they were engaged in conversation). In fact I know that Bunye was one of the really bright young men that EZ chose to hire at Ayala during his 20 or so years there – together with the likes of Teodoro Locsin Jr. (now congressman from Makati), Fernando Barican (former Erap spokesperson), and even Oscar Moreno (now governor of Misamis Oriental), among so many others. Whatever he does, he will forever be Ignacio "I have two discs" Bunye, the presidential spokesman who stood bravely before the cameras in 2005 and lied to all of us about what we all know now to be the "Hello Garci" conspiracy.

He chose to be true to his President rather than to the public – and hopefully has been properly rewarded by his boss for that. But if you ask me, from that very moment when all he had supposedly learned as a lawyer under the tutelage of the Jesuits must have flown out the window, he should have shopped for one truly comfortable bed because I cannot imagine how he could sleep soundly after that.

Same thing goes for his family – who will also have to bear the stigma of a family head who chose loyalty not to the highest levels of public interest but to the narrowest of partisan agendas.

(At least Romulo Neri doesn’t have an immediate family so all his shame is his alone to bear!).

Another gentleman leaving the public service – or at least just for now – is Armed Forces chief Hermogenes Esperon Jr. We still have to see whether he will be recycled or reincarnated in some government or quasi-government position somewhere.

On July 21, 2006, upon his assumption as the 35th chief of staff of the AFP, Esperon had this to say: "Indeed, leading the Armed Forces of the Philippines is a great honor. I am also fully aware of the enormous responsibilities that this calling carries. I assume the leadership of the Armed Forces at a time when the task of finally defeating the insurgency has been given. That great task falls squarely on my shoulders. There is no doubt as to the urgency of this for we cannot, as a nation, afford to fight an endless war foisted by the Communist-terrorists.

"To build a strong republic, we need to move forward as a nation free from terror, forced taxation or extortion, instability and obstructions toward development. We must defeat the communist-terrorists soonest."

Two months short of two years later, as he leaves the service, I don’t think General Esperon can claim anything close to success in the task he took on. The "endless war" that he described remains just that, an endless war, with "terrorism" now not only of the Communist kind, and not also of the religious fundamentalist kind, but State-sponsored terrorism as well.

In fact, if one compares today to July 21, 2006, are we better off now in the sense that we are by some degrees more free from forced taxation, or extortion, or instability? I don’t think so.

Extortion continues – not only from elements seeking to overthrow duly constituted authority but also from elements of government itself!

Terrorism? Many individuals who seek to express opposition to government live under the constant threat of becoming another "desaparecido".

Obstructions toward development? I wonder if the General will agree that an obstruction toward development is doing anything that will thwart the sovereign will of the people, as expressed most peacefully through the ballot.

Then again, General Esperon has stated that he leaves the post of Chief of Staff with a clear conscience. We grant him that. Just as we grant Romulo Neri, Ignacio Bunye, Virgilio Garcillano, Joc Joc Bolante and everyone else who chose to betray the public out of loyalty to their appointing power their own versions of "clear consciences," with the prayer that the God they will eventually meet will be more forgiving that the Filipino people would like to be.