MANILA – All Cabinet officials remain under performance evaluation even after President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. has retained several key officials in the ongoing recalibration of his administration.
According to Presidential Communications Office’s Undersecretary Claire Castro, the Chief Executive’s acceptance or rejection of courtesy resignations from Cabinet members does not mark the end of the process.
“Nais nating ipabatid, hindi po natatapos sa pagsisilbi ng mga courtesy resignation, sa mga pagtanggap at pagtanggi rito ng Pangulo – may natanggal, may nanatili,” Castro said in a media briefing on Thursday.
“Sa mga nanatili, nasa kanila pa rin po ang tiwala ng Pangulo ngunit hindi ibig sabihin ay dapat maging kampante,” she added. “There will be a continuing performance evaluation. They will always be on notice because they serve at the pleasure of the President.”
President Marcos recently ordered a mass courtesy resignation among his Cabinet members as part of a broader administrative recalibration. Some resignations were rejected, while others were accepted.
Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin, among the first to be retained, announced recently the third phase of the “bold reset” in the administration’s ongoing performance evaluation where the majority of the Cabinet was retained.
However, he said the evaluation process is still ongoing, including for officials below Cabinet rank and has hinted that more courtesy resignations will be accepted soon.
“If you are asking for blood, there will still be blood,” Bersamin said. “I assure you that this is a very sweeping and thorough evaluation being made by the President and the panel of his choice.”/PN
