Former Manila International Airport Authority General Manager Alfonso Cusi
One of those President-elect Rodrigo Duterte has named to his Cabinet has defended his appointments, saying they should be appraised based on their individual accomplishments and not lumped together as part of a clique from past administrations.
Alfonso Cusi said he felt it was unfair of people to criticize his appointment as secretary of energy just because he was a friend of former first gentleman Jose Miguel Arroyo.
Cusi, who served as airport and ports managers during the administration of Arroyo’s wife, President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, said Duterte personally vetted his Cabinet appointees and chose them largely on their experience running a government office.
“There are no Arroyo or Mar boys here. It would be a waste not to use our experience just because you don’t like the people we were associated with in the past,” Cusi said.
“They should look at us as individuals and not as friends or relatives of people that they do not like,” he added, stressing that he and the other appointees deserved a chance to show their worth.
Cusi said that as energy secretary, his first priority would be to ensure the electrification of every barangay.
“We still have sitios that do not have electricity so they are deprived of an education and the internet. Light is something that we have to solve first,” he said.
Aside from rural electrification, Cusi said he would look into the power supply problems that have beset Mindanao for years, particularly of the Agus hydropower plant in Iligan which, if properly addressed, would end Mindanao’s chronic outages. Gil Cabacungan