No truth to rumors of leftist resignations

NO, THEY are not resigning and any concerns they may have about President Duterte’s policies they will take up directly with him.

Thus did Social Welfare Secretary Judy Taguiwalo put to rest speculations she was quitting the government over President Duterte’s decision to allow the burial of the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos at Libingan ng mga Bayani and the extrajudicial killings occurring as an offshoot of the war on drugs.

Taguiwalo said that rumors that she and the other leftists appointed by Mr. Duterte to his Cabinet were resigning were being spread by people hoping to derail the peace talks between the government and the communist National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP) in Oslo, Norway.

The other leftist appointees in the Cabinet are Agrarian Secretary Rafael Mariano, National Anti-Poverty Commission Chair Liza Maza and Labor Undersecretary Joel Maglunsod.

“I am in a Cabinet meeting now with Secretary Mariano and Maza. Whatever positions we have regarding the burial of Marcos and the extrajudicial killings we will convey directly to the President,” Taguiwalo said in a statement on Monday.

“We are one with (the President) in hoping for the crafting of a just and lasting peace with the NDFP and the MNLF (Moro National Liberation Front) and in condemning all forms of corruption,” she added.

Tagiuwalo said they were all working with Mr. Duterte to ensure that social services reached the people. Dona Z. Pazzibugan