President-elect Ferdinand Marcos Jr. is considering the appointment of House Deputy Speaker Rodante Marcoleta and two other allies of President Rodrigo Duterte to Cabinet posts, his incoming communications secretary said Wednesday.
Incoming Presidential Communications Operations Office Secretary Trixie Cruz Angeles acknowledged that Marcoleta, Karen Jimeno, and newspaper columnist Rigoberto Tiglao were being considered for Cabinet posts.
Marcoleta’s name was being floated as the next Energy secretary, while Jimeno and Tiglao are supposedly the choices for the next presidential spokesperson.
“We can confirm that these names are being talked about, but there are no decisions as of now,” Angeles said in a media briefing.
Marcoleta ran for senator in the 2022 polls under Marcos’s ticket, but withdrew his candidacy less than two weeks before May 9 polls, a move that exempts him from a one-year ban on the appointment of losing candidates.
Angeles said there are also a lot of aspirants for Cabinet positions.
“We have to be fair and review all these applications, and that is why the selection is taking time,” Angeles said.
Meanwhile, the Philippine Medical Association is pushing for the nomination of Dr. Teodoro Herbosa, a lifetime member of the PMA, to head the Department of Health.
“The people have spoken and for us at the PMA, it is time to reform and improve the health-care system of the country,” the PMA said in a letter to President-elect Marcos.
Herbosa is a professor and chairman of the Emergency Medicine and Trauma Surgery at the University of the Philippines College of Medicine, and UP-Philippine General Hospital.
He was Health undersecretary from 2010 until 2015, and assisted then Secretary Enrique Ona to implement a modernization program of hospitals nationwide.
BSP Governor and incoming Finance Secretary Benjamin Diokno, meanwhile, said outgoing Tourism Secretary Bernadette Romulo-Puyat will take on a new role as deputy governor of the central bank.
The Department of Tourism will be headed by Liloan Mayor Christina Frasco under the incoming Marcos administration.
Department of Environment and Natural Resources Secretary Jim Sampulna on Wednesday assured the public there would be a smooth turnover of the agency’s programs and projects to the incoming administration.
“We are ready. The documents have been prepared and will be presented to the next DENR Secretary,” he said.
To accomplish his commitment, Sampulna formed a transition team chaired by one of the agency’s undersecretaries to oversee the preparations for the handing over of responsibilities.