PRESIDENT Ferdinand Marcos Jr. is cracking his whip on “nonperforming” agencies and a revamp that may see the exit of at least two more Cabinet members.
Malacañang announced on Wednesday the resignation of Trade Secretary Alfredo Pascual, who said he wanted to return to the private sector.
Sources told The Manila Times the President is reportedly considering National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) Secretary Arsenio Balisacan to replace Pascual, a move that would pave the way for a wider Cabinet reshuffle.
President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. PCO Photo
Marikina 2nd District Rep. Stella Quimbo, meanwhile, is being considered for both the NEDA and the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), the sources added.
Malacañang has neither confirmed nor denied the possible replacement of Pascual, saying “there will be a formal announcement on this soon.”
Pascual’s resignation came more than six months after former Finance chief Benjamin Diokno returned to being a member of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas’ Monetary board and turned over the Department of Finance to Sen. Ralph Recto.
Aside from Pascual and Diokno, rumors have been swirling that the other Cabinet officials who might be replaced are Transportation Secretary Jaime Bautista and Information and Communications Technology Secretary Ivan Uy.
Political analyst Froilan Calilung said the resignation of any nonperforming Cabinet member would mean “that another person could be better or could be actually deemed better suited” for delivering on public service.
“This will boil down to questions of accountability and the political will of the President to replace or to sack those people who are not really performing and replace them with people who are good,” Calilung told The Times in a phone interview.
Calilung, who teaches political science at the University of Santo Tomas, said there should be a performance matrix in place to monitor the performance of every Cabinet member.
“There should be key performance indicators which would serve as gauges to monitor as well as to evaluate [Cabinet members], especially those that are not performing,” he said.
“This will definitely have serious implications on the part of the President, especially with the public knowing that there are some people holding key government positions that are not performing. Because number one, this means disruptions and non-conveyance of very important services supposedly given to the public,” he added.
Calilung said the scrutiny of and the replacement should be done right away so as not to disrupt the operations and policy directions and program dynamics of the departments involved, because “these are very important government agencies.”
“I think this will really affect to a great extent the economic agenda of the President if we will not be able to find not just an immediate replacement, [but] I think what’s important here is to find the right person as a replacement,” he added.
Marcos earlier said that “any Cabinet secretaries will be replaced if they are not doing their jobs.”
“If they are incompetent or corrupt, we will replace you,” Marcos said when asked about the call to replace Vice President Sara Duterte as Education chief.
Duterte resigned from the Department of Education (DepEd) in June, following months of tense relations between her clan and the President’s family.
Marcos chose Sen. Juan Edgardo Angara to take over the DepEd.
Meanwhile, Sen. Grace Poe denied reports that she was being considered to replace Pascual at the DTI.
The senator is currently the chairman of the Senate Committee on Finance, and used to head the Senate Committee on Banks, Financial Institutions and Currencies.
“It’s not true that someone has consulted me about this [possibility],” Poe said in a text message in Filipino when asked if someone has already contacted her for the post.
“I want to focus on my job at the Senate to ensure that as chairman of the finance committee our conduct of the public hearings on the [proposed P6.352 trillion 2025] budget will be orderly,” she said.
Poe added, “It is very important that the [national] fund to be allocated for next year will really help uplift the lives of our countrymen and will not be mismanaged.”
“It would be a privilege to be of help in any capacity but I would like to focus on my job at the Senate,” she said.
Pascual stepped down as the head of the DTI after two years of service in the Marcos Cabinet.
“After much reflection, I have decided it is time for me to return to the private sector,” Pascual said in a statement on Wednesday.
“Serving in the Marcos Jr. Cabinet has been an extraordinary privilege and honor. I take pride in our collective achievements at the Department of Trade and Industry,” he said.
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