Earlier, Malacanang warned Cruz not to campaign in public against the Arroyo-backed people’s initiative (PI) that intends to push Charter change (Cha-cha).

Cruz earlier admitted that his strong opposition to Cha-cha had earned him the ire not only of the Chief Executive but three Cabinet members, whom he did not name, who had been wanting his head to roll.

The influential law firm that he helped found with now SC Justice Antonio Carpio and F. Arthur ‘Pancho" Villaraza (now known as Villaraza and Angangco) in 1980 is said to have become the country’s biggest law firm due to its alleged connections with Mrs. Arroyo and her husband Jose Miguel Arroyo.

Carpio, who was appointed by the President to the high court on Oct. 22, 2001, was the ponente of the decision trashing PI and among those who issued a strongly worded dissenting opinion on the petition.

The defense department later said “Secretary Cruz wishes his successor to continue the comprehensive reform agenda under the Philippine Defense Reform (PDR) program that he initiated to professionalize and upgrade the capability of the defense and military establishments.”

‘Despite leaving government service, he commits to maintain an abiding interest in ensuring good governance, upholding the rule of law and the pursuit of genuine reforms in our society," it said.

The 53-year-old Defense secretary, who is called ‘Nonong" by friends, joined the Cabinet in Aug. 2004 after former Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) Chief of Staff Angelo Reyes was transferred from the DND to the Department of Interior and Local Government.

Recently, he was entangled in a political controversy after the high tribunal dismissed the so-called PI mode for Cha-cha wherein three of the high tribunal justices, his former colleagues in the Carpio, Villaraza and Cruz Law Office, voted against the petition seeking a revision of the 1987 Constitution.

The Defense chief had admitted that even before the start of the PI campaign, he was already against it because it was bound to fail.

As a result of the junking of by the SC of the petition by an 8-7 vote, some Cabinet members blamed him for the dismissal of the motion filed by Sigaw ng Bayan and Union of Local Authorities of the Philippines (Ulap), both of which are believed to be bankrolled by Malacanang.

Considered a ‘silent worker and a man of few words,’ the Defense secretary was highly credited for PDR, which primed up vital reform programs in the DND and the AFP.

Most of the priority programs in the PDR were based on recommendations of Malacanang-created fact-finding bodies that investigated root causes of failed coup attempts against the government.

Among such programs implemented by the PDR were the abolition of the Office of the AFP deputy chief of staff for comptrollership (J-6), which was considered a milking cow by allegedly corrupt military officials, the deactivation of the Retirement Service and Benefits System or RSBS that is experiencing heavy financial difficulties and the streamlining of the AFP structure.

The Defense chief was also instrumental in the recall of some 9,000 soldiers who were serving as security detail to VIPs and other political personalities for them to be redeployed in areas still threatened by rebel groups and terrorist elements in different parts of the country.

Sigaw ng Bayan and Ulap are planing to file a motion for reconsideration before the high tribunal in an apparently last-ditch effort to revive the PI.

Their move, which has to be pursued within 15 working days after the SC ruling handed down last Oct. 25, will be supported by the Solicitor’s General’s Office headed by Eduardo Nachura.