DAVAO CITY—Incoming President Rodrigo Duterte on Monday admitted thinking twice about appointing long-time confidante Salvador Panelo as his “temporary” press secretary following the negative reactions to it.
Duterte also warned he would disband the Bureau of Internal Revenue, Bureau of Customs and Land Transportation Office, the “most corrupt” government agencies.
He also bared his plan to place former military men in “sensitive” government agencies that are prone to corruption.
Meanwhile, Duterte has picked Army Col. Louie Dagoy, a member of the Philippine Military Academy Class of 1987, as his senior military adviser.
Dagoy told The Standard he had been informed about his appointment.
“Higher headquarters has already informed me about it. It’s an honor to serve President-elect Duterte,” Dagoy said.
He is the chief of staff of Eastern Mindanao Command chief Lt. Gen. Rey Leonardo Guerrero.
Duterte, who admitted he solely relies on “gut feel” in choosing Cabinet appointees, told reporters he would introduce someone who could be press secretary if the members of the media wanted him to get another.
“I’ll introduce to you one if he has the qualifications,” Duterte said in a press briefing at the Legazpi Suites here.
“I’ll introduce him to you if [Salvador] Panelo doesn’t want the position.”
The National Union of Journalists of the Philippines and the National Press Club on Thursday expressed “serious misgivings” about the appointment of Panelo, the former legal counsel of the Ampatuans, the main suspects in the 2009 Maguindanao Massacre case, as Duterte’s spokesman.
Earlier, Duterte had defended Panelo because he trusted him and knew him well.
He then joked he would appoint Panelo as ambassador to the Port of St. James in England, but “Panelo is not fit to be an ambassador.”
The negative perception against Panelo began when he was counsel for the Ampatuan clan and he was quoted as saying in 2014 that the charges against his clients were “fabricated.” John Paolo Bencito and Florante S. Solmerin
He said he believed in their innocence and that an injustice had been committed against them.
He also threatened to abolish the BIR, Customs and the LTO because those were the most corrupt government agencies.
He said he was considering former military men to be appointed at the Bureau of Immigration, the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency and the Bureau of Corrections because these government agencies were very sensitive.
He also slammed the “useless” Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency because it had failed to fight illegal drugs and some of its officials were conniving with drug syndicates.