Palace vows faster Cabinet review amid political jockeying concerns

By Marita Moaje, Philippine News Agency

Castro said the President is aware of the need for urgency but is determined to uphold a fair, performance-based assessment of officials. (PNA file photo by Darryl John Eguerra)

MANILA – Malacañang on Friday assured the public that President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. is moving decisively and deliberately in evaluating his Cabinet members.

The assurance was made by Presidential Communications Office Undersecretary and Palace Press Officer Claire Castro during a Palace briefing, in response to the unsolicited advice from Senator-elect Panfilo Lacson that the President should act quickly on the pending courtesy resignations.

Castro said the President is aware of the need for urgency but is determined to uphold a fair, performance-based assessment of officials.

“So, makakaasa po kayo sa mas mabilis na pag-i-evaluate patungkol po rito sa mga Cabinet members, Cabinet secretaries (So, you can expect a faster evaluation regarding this for Cabinet members, Cabinet secretaries),” she said.

Castro also cited earlier a pronouncement made by Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin that if a person’s job is to make bread, he should deliver a delicious one.

Bersamin earlier said that each accepted resignation was based on a careful assessment of whether the standards set by the President for efficiency and leadership have been met.

This effort, he said, is the President’s commitment to a government that works fast, delivers results, and meets the expectations of the Filipino people.

Lacson, in an X post on Wednesday, floated concerns of political jockeying for positions with what he called a “white paper” and the floating of names of “applicants” to fill up some still “unvacated posts.”

To which Castro replied, “Alam po ng Pangulo ang kanyang ginagawa. Alam niya po kung paano mapabilis (The President knows what he is doing. He knows how to speed things up).”