Licuanan to ‘comply’ with Duterte desist order but won’t resign

CHEd Chair Patricia Licuanan. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

Commission on Higher Education (Ched) Chair Patricia Licuanan on Monday said she will follow President Rodrigo Duterte’s order for her not to attend Cabinet meetings.

However, unlike Vice President Leni Robredo, Licuanan said she will continue with her work.

“On Sunday, 04 December 2016, I received a text message from Cabinet Secretary Leoncio Evasco, Jr. relaying President Rodrigo Duterte’s instructions to stop attending Cabinet meetings starting this Monday, 05 December, 2 p.m.

I assured Sec. Evasco that I would comply,” Licuanan said in a statement to media.

“In the meantime, I will continue my work as Chairperson of the Commission on Higher Education,” she said.

Her statement comes after Robredo’s resignation as head of the Housing and Urban Development Coordinating Council.

READ: Robredo resigns from Duterte Cabinet

Robredo said Cabinet Secretary Jun Evasco Jr. texted her about Duterte’s instruction for her to “desist from attending all Cabinet meetings starting this Monday, December 5.”

Evasco later confirmed that he was tasked to inform Robredo and Licuanan that they are being excluded from the Cabinet meetings because of “irreconcilable differences.”

He did not elaborate on the reason.

Licuanan is an appointee of former President Benigno Aquino III while Robredo ran under the Aquino-led Liberal Party. JE/rga

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