Newly-appointed executive secretary Lucan Bersamin during his oath taking before President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. (Photo from Office of the President)
MANILA, Philippines — Former Supreme Court Chief Justice Lucas Bersamin is “well-qualified” to be the new executive secretary of President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. due to his years in the judiciary, Malacañang said Tuesday.
Press Secretary Trixie Cruz-Angeles said the President chose Bersamin on a “trust basis.”
“Sinasabi ng ating Pangulo na he [Bersamin] is well-qualified to be the executive secretary, having put in so many years in the judiciary, he has the necessary legal background and the ability to deal with paperwork plus he is trusted and well qualified for this,” she said in a Palace briefing.
She, however, said there is no information yet on when Marcos asked Bersamin to be his right-hand man.
The former chief justice replaced Atty. Vic Rodriguez in the post, which in turn is currently serving as the presidential chief-of-staff.
When asked about the difference between the two posts, Angeles said Malacañang is still waiting for the publication of Administrative Order 1 to make any distinction.
“Wala pang publication kasi ang ating AO 1 so we’ll have to wait for that bago pa natin magawan ng distinction, if any. So we’ll wait for the publication,” she said.
(The AO 1 has not yet been published so we have to wait for that before we make any distinction if there is any.)
“Ang current status is he entered into his duties as chief-of-staff so that is how they stand right now,” she added when prodded if the appointment of Rodriguez is not yet final since there is no order published yet.
Rodriguez earlier resigned as Executive Secretary, saying he needs to focus on his family.
His resignation came in the heels of the sugar importation mess where the controversial Sugar Order No. 4, that would have authorized the importation of 300,000 MT of sugar into the country, was supposedly approved by the President but later revealed that it was without Marcos’ consent.