Galvez urges DND officials to stay in their posts

MANILA, Philippines — Newly-appointed Defense Secretary Carlito Galvez Jr. has urged the Department of National Defense (DND) officials to stay in their posts.

During a transition briefing held at Camp Aguinaldo in Quezon City on Tuesday, January 10, Galvez enjoined all members of the agency’s Executive Committee and heads of all its bureaus to stay in their posts.

“We will sustain the gains of the past secretaries and will also further enhance the capability of our national defense,” Galvez said in a statement on Wednesday.

This comes as five undersecretaries and four assistant secretaries tendered their courtesy resignations after former DND’s officer-in-charge Gen. Jose Faustino Jr. stepped down from his post, according to the agency’s spokesperson Arsenio Andolong.

READ: At least nine DND officials tender courtesy resignation — spox

Andolong, however, said the courtesy resignation is normal, customary, and a “procedural requirement” to let the next Defense Secretary decide.

It can be recalled that rumors of mass resignations within the DND first circulated over the weekend.

READ: PNP on heightened alert for Black Nazarene feast, not for alleged destab plot, says spox

This stemmed from an unverified memo from the Philippine National Police which put the entire country under “full alert status” after the mass resignation in the DND. The PNP said they would investigate the origin of the memo.

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