Cabinet execs to get lecture on drugs, militarization — Palace

Cabinet members will get a lecture on the illegal drug problem in the country and the alleged militarization of the bureaucracy in Malacañang on Tuesday.

Presidential Spokesperson Salvador Panelo said resource persons would be invited to talk to the Cabinet but President Rodrigo Duterte would give his “comments and annotations” during the briefing.

“He (Duterte) would be making comments and annotations while the briefing is going on,” Panelo said in a Palace briefing Tuesday.

The Palace official said Cabinet members should be well-informed about the drug problem in the country, which Duterte said has become a national security threat.

“We feel that national security matters [are] very important other than the usual concerns of the state and members of the cabinet have to know,” he said.

Aside from illegal drugs, Cabinet members would be briefed on the apparent militarization of the bureaucracy following the president’s appointment of former military officials in key government posts.

“[N]ot all members of the Cabinet does not know the rationale behind [appointing former military officials],” he said. /je