Charles Teves
The resignation of three key officials of the Marcos administration left the public intrigued.
The three were former Commission on Audit (COA) Chair Jose Calida, former Press Secretary Trixie Cruz Angeles, and former Executive Secretary Victor Rodriguez.
In a post shared on Tuesday, Angeles said she resigned on account of health conditions; while Calida had multiple reasons which are yet to be made public.
According to new Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin, Rodriguez was slated to assume the position of presidential chief of staff, but “is no longer a member” of Marcos’ official family.
The Cabinet exits began with Angeles telling reporters that she was stepping down.
“I tendered my resignation this morning, effective end of business hours today due to health reasons.”
“It was a pleasure working with you,” she said. Senior Deputy Executive Secretary confirmed Angeles’ reasons with reporters.
“Hopefully in the near future we will have a new press secretary,” Guevara said.
Angeles, Calida, and Rodriguez were among the Cabinet officials bypassed by the Commission on Appointments (CA) due to the lack of time to confirm appointees to the President before Congress went on recess.
Rodriguez announced his resignation on Sept 17, citing his need for more family time as, “A 24/7 job with myriad topics expected to be attended to every day.
“Equally valuable, however, is to witness firsthand your young family grow and evolve into how every parent would wish them to become and they most need me too,” he said.
Angeles previously said that Rodriguez will soon be named the presidential chief of staff. But Bersamin told reporters that he is no longer a Cabinet member.
“To our knowledge, there is none.”
“He (Rodriguez) is no longer a member of the Cabinet. You must recall that he resigned due to a specific reason and that reason is well-published,” Bersamin added.
As for Calida, Bersamin said that he will explain his reasons later.
“He tendered his resignation for many reasons but it’s up to him to later explain to you or publish to you what were his reasons but we accepted that with regret and we commended him for his patriotism for serving for a short while,” Bersamin told reporters.
https://twitter.com/EngrsOfMNL/status/1577216057282277376?s=20&t=tHZxqmz2LDAy7iYzQqLkSw
Marcos when mag resign?? eme! https://t.co/OCxFvYJinM
— duke__vii (@thatguy_adamm) October 5, 2022
https://twitter.com/cloud_6104/status/1577202680505651203?s=20&t=tHZxqmz2LDAy7iYzQqLkSw
https://twitter.com/ggmarize/status/1577278530630877185?s=20&t=tHZxqmz2LDAy7iYzQqLkSw
Bongbong Marcos dapat mag resign kana rin haha
— C3ji3333 (@ceeej_noble) October 4, 2022
Cruz-Angeles
Rodriguez
CalidaWho’s next?
— Mike Navallo (@mikenavallo) October 4, 2022
First, it was Vic Rodriguez. Then it was Trixie Cruz.
Now, it's Jose Calida.The boat is sinking. Group yourselves into 31 million. pic.twitter.com/wNp3sMhqb6
— MajorCrush (@CrushMajor) October 4, 2022
Vic Rodriguez is out, Trixie Angeles and Jose Calida resigned. No DOH Sec yet: House of Marcos in shambles. But Jr. doesn't care…he's too lazy and in party mood to care.
— Vince Tanada (@VinceTanada) October 4, 2022
Marcos also readministered the oaths of the officials who were not confirmed by the CA, including Finance Secretary Benjamin Diokno, Public Works Secretary Manuel Bonoan, Trade Secretary Alfredo Pascual, Social Welfare Secretary Erwin Tulfo, Transportation Secretary Jaime Bautista, Science Secretary Renato Solidum Jr., Energy Secretary Raphael Lotilla, Migrant Workers Secretary Susan Ople, Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Arsenio Balisacan, and Housing Secretary Jose Acuzar.
Chief Presidential Legal Counsel Juan Ponce Enrile previously disapproved of appointing Rodriguez as Marcos’s chief of staff.
“There is no need to create the position of the presidential chief of staff, much less grant it so much power,” he said in a memorandum.
Before her resignation, Angeles committed several blunders. One was when she claimed that state-run media would get priority access to information and interviews under the President’s “single-messaging policy.”
