Marcos mulls gov’t shakeup

President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. is evaluating whether leadership changes are needed within government agencies, Palace press officer Undersecretary Claire Castro said yesterday.

This comes after there were recent leadership changes in the Department of Transportation and the Presidential Communications Office.

According to Castro, there were no imminent leadership changes in government agencies at this time.

Rumors had earlier circulated that Information and Communications Technology Secretary Ivan Uy and the head of the Presidential Security Command, Maj. Gen. Jesus Nelson B. Morales, were about to be replaced. Castro, however, denied any such changes for now.

“As of now, not yet. It’s still under evaluation; there has been no removal, transition, or transfer of positions — nothing yet,” she told reporters during a press briefing.

“The President is still evaluating whether there’s a need for a change of leaders in each department. So, we don’t have anything yet; everything is under evaluation,” she said.

Castro clarified that the recent leadership changes in government agencies were initiated by the heads of the agencies themselves, not by the President.

“There are Cabinet members who are resigning. The President cannot refuse if a Cabinet member or secretary wants to resign. Like Secretary Cesar Chavez, his resignation was voluntary, so there’s nothing we could do but find his replacement. So, that is what is happening,” she said.

When asked if other officials of the Presidential Communications Office would be asked to submit courtesy resignations, as at the Department of Transportation under the new leadership of Secretary Vince Dizon, Castro said no one at the PCO has filed or been asked to submit a courtesy resignation.

New PCO Secretary Jay Ruiz, however, has indicated that there will be personnel changes.

“As of now, we haven’t received anything yet, but we had a meeting, and he actually said that there will be changes. Some may be retained, some may leave. So, let’s wait for what the order from Secretary Jay Ruiz will be,” Castro said.