Mindanao Development Authority chairman Manny Piñol has resigned to run for senator under the Nationalist People’s Coalition of Senator Panfilo Lacson.
“I wrote President Rody Duterte a letter tendering my resignation as a member of his Cabinet effective at the end of office hours on Oct. 5. I assured him that our friendship will remain steadfast and will never be affected by politics,” he said in a post on Facebook.
Piñol said for those asking why he was running under the NPC and not with Duterte’s political party, the divided PDP-Laban, he said the question should be answered by the group of Energy Secretary Alfonso Cusi, president of the Duterte-led faction.
“For those asking why I am not part of the administration ticket, that is best answered by the group of Secretary Cusi who were the ones who released the initial list of names of their senatorial bets. From the start, they never included my name in their list,” he added.
Cusi, for his part, said at least four members of the Cabinet will run in next year’s elections under the PDP-Laban.
Cusi named these officials as presidential spokesperson Harry Roque, chief presidential legal counsel Salvador Panelo, Public Works Secretary Mark Villar, and anti-corruption commission chief Greco Belgica.
Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello and Transportation Secretary Arthur Tugade are still mulling their decision, he added.
“There are also other candidates we’re considering to run under the PDP,” Cusi said.