Arroyo backs Duterte’s ‘recycling’ of officials, appointment of military men

House Speaker Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo on Friday defended President Rodrigo Duterte’s “recycling” of officials and appointing of military men in the government, saying the Chief Executive knows what he is doing.

On Thursday, Duterte announced that Bureau of Customs (BOC) Chief Isidro Lapeña will now be Director General of the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (Tesda), while Maritime Industry Authority (Marina) administrator Rey Leonardo Guerrero will lead the embattled BOC.

READ: Lapeña out of Customs but named Tesda chief with Cabinet rank

This came after the Customs faced another massive entry of shabu, which Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency Chief Aaron Aquino now estimated at P11 billion from its initial assessment of P6.8 billion.

READ: PDEA chief now says magnetic lifters contained P11B ‘shabu’ |

Lapeña not convinced smuggled ‘shabu’ costs P11B

“Let me just say that I’ve been president and I know more or less that the President has to consider so many things when he makes his decision so I’m not going to be a part of the peanut gallery making comments on his actions,” she said in an interview during her inspection of her retaining wall project in Sasmuan, Pampanga.

The former President added: “As I’ve said I’m not going to make any comments because the President knows what he’s doing.”

The Pampanga congresswoman also agreed that there is an advantage in appointing military men in government.

“They are literally good soldiers that’s why,” she said.

But opposition lawmakers criticized Duterte’s move to transfer Lapeña to Tesda.

READ: Party-list congressmen slam Lapeña transfer to Tesda

ACT-Teachers Rep. Antonio Tinio accused Duterte of “recycling” Lapeña to “put an end to the further investigation into the smuggling of Php 11 billion worth of shabu and insulate the latter from possible charges.”

“It’s becoming clear that Duterte’s vaunted war on drugs is a scam meant to protect the drug smugglers at the cost of the lives of thousands of drug users,” he added. /kga