Let go, PBBM

Let go, PBBM | Daily Tribune

The public felt deeply disappointed by the Cabinet reshuffle announced by Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin on Friday, as it fell short of the high expectations.

A resolute President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. was expected to take the podium for a defining moment of his administration, but instead it was Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin, who was himself earlier rumored to be on the way out, who made the announcements.

Following the midterm election setback, instead of a “bold reset,” the public tuned in to the broadcast from the Palace to witness a musical chairs from which no chair had been removed.

What was presented as a recalibration of the Marcos administration only reinforced the perception of transactional politics.

It started with all Cabinet secretaries being told to submit courtesy resignations, which the public applauded as a sign of the President’s conviction, only to end in a whimper of recycled political allies.

Accepted were the resignations of Ambassador Antonio Lagdameo, the Permanent Representative to the United Nations, and Environment Secretary Maria Antonia Yulo-Loyzaga.

Lagdameo, however, was retiring anyway. He will be succeeded by Foreign Affairs Secretary Enrique Manalo who, in turn, will be replaced by Foreign Affairs Undersecretary and former Ambassador Tess Lazaro.

Loyzaga was given a “short break,” according to Bersamin and may be assigned to another post later. Energy Secretary Raphael Lotilla will take over as Secretary of Environment and Natural Resources.

The Department of Energy (DoE) will have Undersecretary Sharon Garin as officer-in-charge.

Housing Secretary Jose Rizalino Acuzar has been appointed Presidential Adviser for Pasig River Development, with the rank of Secretary. Former Undersecretary Jose Ramon Aliling will replace him at the helm of the Department of Human Settlements and Urban Development.

Bersamin hinted in the briefing that both Acuzar and Loyzaga had underperformed.

The aim of projecting decisiveness in response to the debacle of the midterm polls was lost as a consequence of the selective retentions and reassignments.

It revealed a cautious approach to allies instead of transformative change.

Another shortfall was leaving the economic team intact, except for Lotilla’s reassignment.

The decision to retain particularly Finance Secretary Ralph Recto and Budget Secretary Amenah Pangandaman, who were directly implicated in the Philippine Health Insurance Corp. (PhilHealth) and Philippine Deposit Insurance Corp. (PDIC) funds reallocations, signals more trouble afoot.

The pilfering of more than P60 billion from PhilHealth and P117 billion from PDIC bypassed legal safeguards, eroding the financial security of both institutions that are critical to the public welfare.

PhilHealth’s reserves, intended to subsidize the healthcare of millions of Filipinos, were redirected to non-health expenditures, violating the government’s commitment to universal healthcare.

As the President enters the second half of his term, the revamp should have been his watershed moment.

Thus far, the steps taken have made the public more cynical, suggesting that blind loyalty and political expediency prevail over competence and ethical governance.