MANILA, Philippines — Senior Department of National Defense (DND) officials will stay in their posts following the call of newly-appointed Defense chief Carlito Galvez Jr, an official said on Wednesday.
Defense Undersecretary Angelito De Leon, one of the officials who tendered a courtesy resignation, said he and the rest of the officials would stay after Galvez urged them to do so.
READ: At least nine DND officials tender courtesy resignation — spox
De Leon also added that there is nothing extraordinary about their step-down offer.
“In the case of Secretary Galvez, while we are ready with our courtesy resignation in accordance with customs — there is nothing extraordinary about it — he immediately gave the order, everybody stays put, and hence, nobody would resign … we are intact,” De Leon said in a press conference in Camp Aguinaldo in Quezon City.
De Leon stressed that the courtesy resignation of key officials is a “customary process” whenever a new head of the agency “to give a free hand” to the new Secretary.
READ: Galvez urges DND officials to stay in their posts
“This is nothing extraordinary, even in other agencies [more] with the One Defense Team, we value tradition,” he also said.
Five undersecretaries and four assistant secretaries have tendered their courtesy resignations after Jose Faustino Jr. stepped down as the department’s officer-in-charge, according to DND spokesperson Arsenio Andolong.
Malacañang on Monday announced that Faustino stepped down as the senior undersecretary of the DND. Presidential peace adviser and former AFP chief Carlito Galvez Jr. was appointed as the new defense chief.
Faustino’s resignation followed the reappointment of Gen. Andres Centino as AFP chief, replacing Lt. Gen. Bartolome Bacarro. Centino formally assumed office on Saturday, January 7.
However, rumors of mass resignation in the DND circulated during the change-of-command ceremony, which stemmed from an unverified memo from the Philippine National Police that allegedly put the entire country under “full alert status” after the mass resignation of the DND. The PNP said they would investigate the origin of the memo.
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