Duterte, macho Cabinet treat Puyat ‘very well’

Tourism Secretary Bernadette Romulo-Puyat. Ryan Leagogo/INQUIRER.net

President Rodrigo Duterte is a hands-on workman who respects women and their opinions, at least in the eyes and ears of one of his alter egos in the government, Tourism Secretary Bernadette Romulo-Puyat.

How Mr. Duterte treats her and those in his inner circle in Malacañang is contrary to the brash public persona of the President—one who easily hurls invectives at his foes, particularly female critics, Puyat said.

One of the youngest members of Mr. Duterte’s Cabinet, Puyat spoke about how the President and her colleagues, most of whom are men, “have treated [me] very well” during the Meet Inquirer Multimedia forum on Tuesday.

“On my first day in office, all of them said, ‘We will go to your office because we want to help you’,” she said.

The familiar faces, she noted, were either colleagues in government of her father, Alberto Romulo, or her professors back in her school days at the University of the Philippines.

‘Ideal woman’

Despite her long track record in government, some people believed Puyat was handpicked by the President as tourism secretary because of his fondness of her. Mr. Duterte once said she was his “ideal woman.”

The President dashed all innuendos in a speech during the inauguration of the Mactan-Cebu International Airport in June.

“I appreciated that he brought up the fact that I am not his girlfriend. I felt that he was actually showing respect to me,” said Puyat, who is in a relationship with Tarlac Rep. Charlie Cojuangco, a widower.

Puyat said the President told her she was appointed to head the corruption-infested Department of Tourism because she was “capable” and because the Romulos—from his grand uncle, the former UN General Assembly president Carlos P. Romulo, to his father—had “impeccable reputation.”

‘Very respectful’

According to Puyat, the President and his men also extended the same level of courtesy to Education Secretary Leonor Briones.

“When he’s with us, he is very respectful,” she said of Mr. Duterte. “Secretary Briones is a very, very smart woman. And whenever she speaks during meetings, everyone listens, even the President.”

Other women, from the powerful and influential to the common folk, are not as lucky as Puyat and Briones, though.

Vice President Leni Robredo, who was kicked out of the Cabinet in December 2016, has been the object of Mr. Duterte’s ire. In July, he called Robredo “incompetent” and unfit to run the country as President.

Mr. Duterte had also had harsh words for detained Senator Leila de Lima, ousted Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno and retired Ombudsman Conchita Carpio Morales.

Not sick

Puyat defended Mr. Duterte from critics who said he was sick and could no longer do the responsibilities of a President.

Last week, while Communist Party of the Philippines founder Jose Maria Sison was fanning rumors that Mr. Duterte had slipped into a coma, Puyat said her boss “was still giving instructions left and right.”

“He called me up last Saturday asking me for updates on the Boracay closure. A sick man does not call you to ask about updates on Boracay,” she said.

The tourism chief said Mr. Duterte was also “very particular about details.” He asked about the guidelines that she and her fellow cochiefs in the Boracay interagency task force, Environment Secretary Roy Cimatu and Interior Secretary Eduardo Año, had agreed upon in reopening Boracay, as well as the environmental compliance of establishments and if people were heeding them.

“He’s very keen on details. I don’t think a sick man can be as sharp like that,” Puyat said.