Senator Miriam Defensor Santiago on Tuesday cautioned the incoming Aquino administration to be careful with the “hire and fire’’ principle in dealing with Arroyo appointees, citing in particular controversial Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) Chief of Staff Gen. Delfin Bangit who does not seem to enjoy the confidence of President-elect Benigno Simeon “Noynoy” Aquino III.

“They have to be careful with this principle that is now being bandied around that the power to hire includes the power to fire the person because there are many, many exceptions to that rule,’’ Santiago, a former law professor and a known constitutionalist, said.

“There are many, many exceptions. For example, if there is security of tenure, the President cannot exercise the power to fire. He can only hire and fire people who are co-terminus with him or people who the Constitution describes as holding positions that are highly technical or policy-making or highly classified,’’ she pointed out.

In the case of the AFP, Santiago said, “if they have fixed terms, there is no possibility, there is no legal possibility for the President to fire somebody who enjoys security of tenure unless of course there is a case under Civil Service law.”

“I doubt very much if, for example, the Chief of Staff or the Ombudsman can be forced to quit their jobs just because the incumbent President is not comfortable with him,’’ she said.

The mandatory retirement of Bangit, an appointee of outgoing President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, is next year.

Santiago’s advice came after Bangit appeared to have bowed to the pressure being exerted on him to retire.

Aquino had stated that he would not retain Bangit as his AFP Chief of Staff when he assumes the presidency starting at noon of June 30.

Bangit was the senior aide of President Arroyo and also the chief of the Presidential Security Group during three coup attempts against her.

After initially ignoring calls for him to submit his courtesy resignation saying it would be wrong for a professional soldier to do so, Bangit changed his position and started bidding farewell to soldiers by visiting military camps. The first such camp Bangit visited on Monday was Camp Capinpin in Tanay, Rizal.

Lt. Col. Arnulfo Burgos Jr., AFP spokesman, said the Tanay visit was part of the preparations for Bangit’s retirement which was expected to come ahead of the Chief of Staff’s mandatory retirement age next year. He did not give the exact date of Bangit’s retirement.

Bangit’s appointment as the AFP Chief of Staff was bypassed by the bicameral Commission on Appointment (CA) when the 14th Congress adjourned sine die last June 4.

Santiago stressed that “the rule that the President as the Chief Executive has the power to hire and therefore the power to fire is only a general rule.’’

She said Bangit’s statement that he would be retiring soon meant that ‘’he (Bangit) was merely complying with the moral dimensions of the message being sent to him.’’

“So in this case, it would be proper for General Bangit to offer his resignation if he already has because that would be, in effect, an act of courtesy, not only of courtesy but also out of respect and also an act indicative that he does not wish to stay in office longer than the confidence enjoined in him by the Chief Executive,’’ she added.

Bangit, along with three other generals, was appointed by President Arroyo on March 9, a day before the constitutional ban on appointments took effect.