Roque: I haven’t seen Liza Maza attend any Cabinet meeting

Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque INQUIRER FILE PHOTO/JOAN BONDOC

Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque said on Tuesday that he has never seen embattled Anti-Poverty Secretary Liza Maza in any Cabinet meeting ever since he joined the Cabinet.

In a press briefing, Roque said he could not remember when was the last time Maza reported to Malacañang since he never saw her in any of the Cabinet meeting.

Maza and other leftist leaders and former lawmakers are facing arrest when a warrant against them was issued by a trial court in Palayan City, Nueva Ecija for charges of alleged election-related violence in 2006.

“Never. Ever since I joined the Cabinet, I have not seen her in any Cabinet meeting,” Roque said.

“She’s still part of NAPC [National Anti-Poverty Commission] as far as a I know, but as I said, since I came on board, I have not seen her attend any Cabinet meeting,” he stressed.

The Presidential Spokesperson said that Maza should surrender to authorities because “we cannot have a secretary who is a fugitive from law.”

Roque joined President Rodrigo Duterte’s Cabinet in October 2017 as a replacement of former Presidential Spokesperson and now Foreign Affairs Undersecretary Ernesto Abella.

Maza assumed office as lead convenor of the NAPC in August 2016. /jpv

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