PRESIDENT Rodrigo Duterte on Tuesday denied rumors that Foreign Affairs Secretary was on his way out as a member of the Cabinet.
“I would like to arrest a few rumors going around that Secretary Yasay of the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) is on his way out,” Duterte said in a televised message over state-run PTV4.
The President told Yasay that he is in good company, assuring him that “there is no plan for his ouster.”
“Secretary Yasay accepted the position on the condition that he will only serve for a few months not even a year because he has his contractual obligations to teach,” he said.
Yasay, a former Securities and Exchange Commission chair, was handling classes in a US university when he was tapped by Duterte in May to be foreign secretary in an acting capacity.
“I would like the Philippines to know that I personally pleaded with Secretary Yasay to join my government because he is competent and honest, and he knows his business,” Duterte added.
Duterte said Yasay “speaks for me” and “everything that he says in public both national and international comes from my guidance; and he has my backing and full support.”/rga