Duterte names another leftist to Cabinet

DAVAO CITY—President-elect Rodrigo Duterte has named another leftist to be part of his administration.

On Thursday night, Duterte announced that former labor leader Joel Maglungsod would be the labor undersecretary.

Maglungsod was former Anakpawis party-list representative in Congress. He is now vice chair of the Kilusang Mayo Uno.

Maglungsod is the third leftist named to be part of the Duterte administration.

Duterte earlier announced Anakpawis Rep. Rafael Mariano as agrarian reform secretary and former University of the Philippines professor Judy Taguiwalo as secretary of the Department of Social Welfare and Development.

Mariano and Taguiwalo were nominated by the National Democratic Front after Duterte said he was giving the posts, including the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) and the Department of Labor and Employment, to the Left.

Duterte has named former human rights lawyer Silvestre Bello as labor secretary, but still has to decide on who will be DENR head.

The President-elect, in taking back his earlier announcement that the DENR post would be given to the Left, said he wanted a former military man to head the department because this would mean going against miners and illegal loggers.

Duterte on Thursday night also said he was planning to give the Left another slot in his administration. He said he was thinking of giving to a woman the National Anti-Poverty Commission portfolio.

Aside from Maglungsod, Duterte also announced the appointment of former police general Edgar Galvante as head of the Land Transportation Office.

Galvante served as regional police director for Southern Mindanao.

Christopher “Bong” Go, Duterte’s executive aide, was named special assistant to the President.

Go, who has been called the “national photobomber” by some because he is always photographed with Duterte, had said his tasks included “general supervision over the office of the Presidential Management Staff.”

He also named news anchor Martin Andanar head of the Presidential Communications Operations Office.