DND officer-in-charge Faustino tests positive for COVID-19

Lt. Gen. Jose Faustino Jr.

MANILA, Philippines — Incoming Department of National Defense (DND) officer-in-charge Undersecretary Jose Faustino Jr. has tested positive for COVID-19, the agency announced on Thursday.

Faustino contracted the new coronavirus during one of his engagements, the DND said.

“Undersecretary Faustino came into close contact with a COVID-positive individual during one of his many engagements and consultations prior to his assumption today, June 30, as OIC, DND,” the agency said in a statement.

The official is also fully vaccinated and boostered, and is asymptomatic, according to DND.

After complying with the prescribed quarantine period, the agency said Faustino would physically report for work.

The transition ceremony will be conducted virtually on Friday, said DND.

Faustino, who had served as chief-of-staff of the Armed Forces of the Philippines during President Rodrigo Duterte’s term, was appointed by President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. as DND-OIC.

Faustino will then assume his post as Defense Secretary on November 13, 2022 following the one-year ban on the appointment of retired military officers under Republic Act 6975, according to designated press secretary Trixie Cruz-Angeles.

EDV/abc