FILE PHOTO: President Rodrigo Duterte presides over the 40th Cabinet Meeting at the Malacañan Palace on August 5, 2019. KING RODRIGUEZ/PRESIDENTIAL PHOTO
MANILA, Philippines — Presidential candidate Manny Pacquiao on Tuesday said he is open to accepting members of President Rodrigo Duterte’s administration in his Cabinet as long as they pass his “screening team.”
He made the remark after Duterte said he is willing to pass some of his Cabinet members to the next administration as he showered them with praises during his latest public address.
Duterte praised Transport Secretary Arthur Tugade, vaccine czar Carlito Galvez Jr., Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez, and Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana.
Pacquiao specifically said he is open to accepting Galvez and a few others.
“Si Galvez mabait naman ‘yan, okay naman ‘yan, at saka mayroon tayong screening team para kung makapasok sila doon, bakit hindi? Pareho naman sila niyan na qualified, basta makalusot lang sila sa screening team,” he said in an interview in San Jose del Monte, Bulacan.
(Galvez is good and okay. We have a screening team. If they pass it, why not? They are qualified, they just need to pass the screening team.)
READ: Briefing turns nostalgic as Duterte praises execs
The incumbent senator said that if he wins the presidency, his Cabinet members should be competent, dedicated, and experts on their job.
Pacquiao said he will also be strict in picking his presidential advisers who should be degree holders, God-fearing, and have the necessary knowledge about their work.
In Duterte’s late-night public address, the President looked back at the achievements of his administration and praised some of his Cabinet members for a job well done.
He also talked about the approaching end of their term, saying it might be good to let the people know what they had accomplished.
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