Bersamin: Choosing losing poll bets for Cabinet posts is within President’s power

Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin FILE PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines — It is within President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr.’s power to pick anyone for his Cabinet, even if they were candidates who lost in the May 2022 elections, Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin said on Friday.

Bersamin responded to calls on Marcos not to appoint candidates who lost in last year’s polls after the President himself confirmed he was planning a reorganization of his Cabinet after the one-year appointment ban lapsed on May 9.

“Alam mo ‘yong ganyang mga panawagan hindi na dapat sabihin pa. They mean very well, but you know there are good people out there, and if the President wants to replace some people in the Cabinet right now, he is within his full political power to exercise that choice,” he said in an interview.

(That kind of appeal should not be made.)

Bersamin also said that Marcos can also choose to appoint to Cabinet posts those who are eyeing to run in the 2025 midterm elections.

He was responding to House Minority Floor Leader Marcelino Libanan’s statement, saying that the President should only appoint those with no plans to run in the next polls to ensure that they would remain focused and committed to their work.

“Sino ba naman ang makapagbabawal sa sino mang tao na tumakbo dahil sa nais niyang maglingkod sa bayan?” the Palace official said.

(Who can bar anyone from running for office if they want to serve the country?)

“Mayroon din namang gustong maglingkod, hindi tinatawag ni Presidente, e wisdom ni Presidente ‘yan. So, we cannot actually limit the President in choosing whom he believes can deliver on his agenda for the people of the Philippines,” he added.

(Some want to serve but are not chosen by the President. It’s his wisdom.)

So far, there are at least three executive departments without permanent secretaries.

Undersecretary and Officer-in-Charge Maria Rosario Vergiere heads the Department of Health, while Senior Undersecretary Carlito Galvez Jr chairs the Department of National Defense.

The Department of Agriculture, meanwhile, is headed by Marcos himself.

Under the 1987 Constitution, “no candidate who has lost in any election shall, within one year after such election, be appointed to any office in the government or any government-owned or -controlled corporations or in any of their subsidiaries.”

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