If I were a betting man, I?d wager that Press Secretary Jesus Dureza would be out of a job soon. In fact, just to sweeten the pot, I?d bet that deputy presidential spokesman Anthony Golez replaces Dureza as Malaca?ang?s main media minder in a couple of months?except that I don?t gamble.

Dureza started the New Year with a bang, but it?s probably not the sort of noise that made his boss, President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, happy. Dureza over the weekend announced that a Bloomberg report had cited the economies of the Philippines and China for their ?resilience??the only trouble being that the wire service story apparently did not exist.

Here?s Dureza?s entire statement, as released through the Palace: ?It?s encouraging to note that we have been cited in Bloomberg today, as one of the resilient economies in Asia, along with China. Amidst global financial downturn, we continue to post strong currency and fiscal position [sic]. Undeniably, this is the result of the economic reforms instituted by the President early on. While difficult days are expected ahead, we are in a better position to weather them as long as we keep the course and resist the temptation of partisan politics. The Philippines and China were being cited as the two Asian economies that fared the best in 2008 and that will do well in 2009.?

According to Dureza, the source of his information was a former colleague of his in the Cabinet, ex-presidential chief of staff Michael Defensor. The Press secretary allegedly said that Defensor saw the report on the Bloomberg television channel in Hong Kong?even if no one else has seen it up to this time.

Why Dureza thought this was a great way to get in the newspapers without first verifying his source is beyond comprehension. Yesterday, no one could find the Press secretary to ask him to explain himself further.

Dureza?s Bloomberg gaffe is the just the latest in an ever-lengthening list of official missteps that is making his position as Press secretary untenable. If memory serves, it was also Dureza who almost single-handedly revived the Charter-change issue by declaring late last year that it was ?all systems go? for Cha-cha.

Of course, a lot of people still recall that Dureza said the now-notorious prayer at the start of a regular Cabinet meeting imploring the Lord to let Mrs. Arroyo stay in office ?beyond 2010.? That led to the suspension of the traditional photo-op session at the beginning of Cabinet meetings and a lot of raised eyebrows that didn?t help Dureza?s?and the administration?s? image any.

Prior to landing the job as replacement of the gaffe-resistant, discreet and proper Ignacio Bunye?who was one of the longest-serving members of the Arroyo Cabinet before he joined the Monetary Board?Dureza was also making mischief for the government in another field. It was Dureza, as lead government peace negotiator, who helped craft the controversial memorandum of agreement on ancestral domains (MoA-AD) between Manila and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front.

That same hush-hush agreement was junked by the Supreme Court, sparking a renewal of hostilities between the Armed Forces and the Moro rebels in Mindanao, who felt they had been led on by an Arroyo government that was not sincere about giving back lands that they claimed belonged to them. It was former Armed Forces chief Hermogenes Esperon who manfully took the heat for the MoA?but it was Dureza who was in on that document?s creation from the start.

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Indeed, some people in Malaca?ang are already asking if Dureza, given his record of putting his foot in his mouth, doesn?t belong to some opposition fifth column inside the Palace itself. Examining the Press secretary?s recent missteps, one could make a convincing case that he is actually working against the Arroyo government, instead of for it.

It?s not as if the administration needs any more enemies. Already, there is no shortage of people who think that Dureza is actually speaking for the President?which is actually what a real press secretary does, assuming the person holding down that job isn?t as clueless as Dureza.

At the same time, many people are starting to believe that Dureza has been promoted beyond his personal level of competence by getting appointed Press secretary, and that he just doesn?t understand how important it is for the person occupying that post to think many times (and to check the facts, at least) before opening his or her mouth.

Assuming that the President does what is only right and removes Dureza from the Press Office, she would be doing her government and the entire country a big favor if she doesn?t give him another job on the state payroll. Given Dureza?s proven incompetence in various positions, there?s a good chance that he will manage to screw up wherever he is assigned?it doesn?t matter if it?s the Post Office instead of the Press Office.

People close to the administration don?t know if Dureza will get another job in government after he?s fired (or eased out, as gently as possible) as Press secretary. What they do say is that this last faux pas by the Press secretary is sure to cost him his current post?and every day he stays on only increases the chance that he will do something outrageous again.

Let?s see if the smart money is right. And maybe we?ll all get to watch it on Bloomberg TV when it happens.