On first Monday of Marcos government, key Cabinet posts unfilled

There’s nonetheless no phrase on when the first Cabinet meeting may be held

MANILA, Philippines – The Philippines stays to be with out chiefs for numerous important posts, along with that of the nicely being division, as the first full week of the Marcos presidency begins. 

As of mid-day on Monday, July 4, Malacañang has however to announce who may be heading the Division of Effectively being, the Division of Vitality, and the Division of Science and Experience, amongst totally different important firms. 

The Cabinet – the so-called alter-egos of the President – are often full by noon of June 30, when the model new President’s time interval formally begins.

When President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. began his six-year time interval on Thursday, June 30, he was moreover with out a worldwide affairs Secretary. The submit was crammed by July 1, when he swore in occupation diplomat Enrique Manalo as a result of the nation’s excessive diplomat subsequent to the President. 

“Wala pong ’binibigay sa amin na sinasabi nilang deadline. Ang sinasabi is masuri talaga ang pag-evaluate nila dito sa mga kandidato para sa mga posisyon,” acknowledged Press Secretary Trixie Cruz-Angeles in a media briefing at Malacañan Palace on July 4. 

(We have not been instructed of a deadline. Nonetheless what everyone knows is that candidates for these posts bear intense scrutiny.) 

Pressed on the delay in asserting a nicely being chief – merely as coronavirus infections seemed to be on the rise as soon as extra – Angeles pointed to the need to “take into account” candidates appropriately. 

“The President is type of acutely aware and in actuality one among many priorities is managing the outcomes of this pandemic. So you must moreover understand that that’s so very important. They need to look very rigorously and completely on the candidates,” she added. 

Angeles acknowledged she had no knowledge if the submit had been supplied to anybody. 

The transition course of – from what was then the outgoing administration of Rodrigo Duterte to the then-incoming Marcos administration – began shortly after Marcos and his working mate Vice President Sara Duterte gained the May 9 elections, although that they had been solely proclaimed as official winners of the 2022 race in late May. 

Departments and locations of labor with no appointed chiefs may be led by officers-in-charge, or by the “next-in-rank” and most senior official, based mostly on Memorandum Spherical 1 signed by Authorities Secretary Vic Rodriguez. 

The Palace has however to announce when the first Cabinet meeting may be held. The presidents immediately earlier Marcos – Duterte and the late Benigno Aquino III – first convened their Cabinets the an identical day that they had been sworn into office. 

The newly-inaugurated President has up to now met with numerous diplomats or the contingents that flew in to witness his inauguration. He has moreover met with Division of Agriculture (DA) officers as the head of the division. – MR