ACTING Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque on Thursday said he was eyeing a “better looking” millennial spokesperson to help him speak on behalf of President Rodrigo Duterte.
“I want a millennial. Number two, I want someone better-looking… than me so that the women will fall in love with him. And I want someone who speaks better than me. I promise the women, you will like the person I have in mind,” Roque told reporters in a Palace news briefing.
“There’s always someone who should be able to give the Palace position on different issues, and I think I’m choosing this person because I want a link between a 72-year-old President and the millennials of today. You will not be disappointed with my choice.”
Roque said he had picked for the job his former student, currently preparing for the bar examinations.
Roque said he needed a deputy since he wanted to do some of his work in war-torn Marawi City, where government was setting a rehabilitation program after its liberation from Islamic State-inspired terrorists.
“It’s an innovation that I thought of because the rebuilding is soon to begin and I think the people should know exactly what’s happening on the ground,” he said.
“That’s why it’s going to be very difficult for me to be flying to Marawi every Tuesday evening. It’s a very long drive from Cagayan de Oro. It’s very complicated for security reasons and logistic reasons but I want to do that because I want to bring Malacañang to areas where, you know, attention should be devoted,” he added.
In the Senate, Senate President Aquilino Pimentel III said the incoming presidential spokesperson would no longer need to be subject to confirmation hearing by the powerful bicameral Commission on Appointments.
Pimentel, also chairman of the congressional body, said the presidential spokesman, like the presidential legal counsel and the executive secretary, should be 100 percent left to the discretion of the President.
“The presidential spokesman, in my opinion, need not be confirmed anymore by the CA. The presidential spokesman does not run a department like the other secretaries,” also said Pimentel.
Department officials go through the powerful commission composed of members from the lower and upper chambers before they can officially hold the government post.
Informed of this, Roque told reporters after his first briefing in Malacañang: “Very good then.”
Earlier in a television interview, Roque said he had yet to resign from the House of Representatives. Roque represents the Kabayan Party-list in Congress.
Roque, who will officially assume his post on Nov. 6, said he was advised by his colleagues not to resign yet until it was clear whether his appointment would need the CA’s approval.
President Duterte made the announcement on Roque’s appointment on Oct. 28. Duterte said he would have the rank of a Cabinet secretary.
Duterte said Roque’s appointment was his “personal decision.”
Roque, who faced the Malacañang Press Corps for the first time on Thursday, replaced Ernesto Abella, who had the rank of undersecretary.
However, the President was tight-lipped on why he replaced Abella with Roque. The President stressed it’s his personal decision and he was not about to explain why he did it.
Duterte said he was confident Roque would be able to convey his administration’s message well.
“It’s in the messaging actually. We cannot speak with the same words altogether, but he would convey the message—to me that will be the most important,” he said.
After Duterte’s trip, Roque will begin speaking for the President.
“He will carry my word to the public and he’s very competent,” the President added. Roque will attend his first Cabinet meeting on Nov. 6.
Roque is also the founder of the Center for International Law Manila. He had reportedly asked the Commission on Elections to proclaim lawyer Ciriaco Calalang as his replacement.