Palace: No one is telling leftists to leave gov’t

No one is telling the leftists to leave the government.

This was the remark of Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque following the resignation of anti-poverty chief Liza Maza from President Rodrigo Duterte’s Cabinet.

Maza resigned from office, citing the recent termination of peace talks between the communist rebels and the government.

The resigned anti-poverty chief was formerly a lawmaker at the House of Representatives under the Gabriela Partylist.

“The President gave them that opportunity (to serve in the government), and she decided to leave. Wala naman nagpapaalis sa kanya (No one made her leave),” Roque said in a press briefing on Monday.

“Wala pong nagpapaalis sa kanila (No one is making them leave). This is a voluntary act of Liza Maza,” he also said.

Roque, however, still recognized Maza’s “invaluable service to the government.”

“Well, in fairness to her, lumabas naman iyong mga (it showed in the) surveys that the Filipinos rated themselves to be less hungry,” Roque said. “As I said, we regret her departure, we wish her the best.”

“I don’t know really why she had to connect the peace talks to her work in the National Anti-Poverty Commission (NAPC),” she said.

Maza and other three former leftist lawmakers were recently ordered arrested by a trial court in Palayan City, Nueva Ecija for alleged election-related violence in 2006. The court eventually cleared them of the charges.

Despite the arrest warrants, President Rodrigo Duterte did not fire Maza from her post at the NAPC. /je