House Minority Leader Marcelino Libanan (Photo from his Facebook account)
MANILA, Philippines — President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has been urged to appoint Cabinet officials who would not run for the 2025 midterm elections, to ensure the commitment of these individuals to the job.
House Minority Floor Leader and 4Ps Rep. Marcelino Libanan said in a statement on Thursday that cabinet secretaries who have a goal of running for elective seats spend a lot of time preparing for their respective candidacies, putting away their focus from the agency.
“Our suggestion is for the President to appoint highly capable department heads who can focus entirely on their jobs until 2028, and who do not have any plans to run in the 2025 elections, which is just 24 months away,” Libanan said.
“Secretaries keen on running for office in the mid-term polls are bound to become preoccupied with partisan political activities in a matter of months,” he added.
Libanan said this amid rumors that new names — particularly candidates who ran in the 2022 national elections — might be named by Marcos to the cabinet. The President last May 1 hinted at adding some personalities to his cabinet once the one-year ban on appointments has lapsed.
Under the current rules, individuals who ran in an election cannot be appointed to government posts one year after the polls.
READ: Bongbong Marcos hints tapping candidates in 2022 polls for Cabinet posts
The House Minority Leader said he does not see anything wrong with the practice, especially if the former candidate is qualified for the cabinet position.
Furthermore, Libanan urged Marcos to name permanent cabinet heads for the Department of Agriculture (DA) and the Department of Health (DOH). As of now, Marcos heads the DA, while officer-in-charge and Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire leads the DOH.
“As long as they are highly qualified and competent individuals, it does not matter if they lost in the previous elections, considering that the ban has already expired,” Libanan said.
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