With just a few days before President-elect Rodrigo Duterte assumes office, his cabinet is nearing its completion as well. But uncommonly, his appointees comes from different parts of the country. Although criticized when he appointed his friends and schoolmates, he defended his cabinet saying that people shouldn’t be judgmental and let these people prove themselves. Some of them are Duterte’s law school fraternity brother, Vitaliano Aguirre II, who will be the secretary of the Department of Justice. Another is another classmate and former Clark Development Corp. president Arthur Tugade who will be the new secretary of the Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC). Carlos Dominguez III, a longtime friend of Duterte will head the Department of Finance. And another law school classmate and former Securities and Exchange Commission chairman Perfecto Yasay Jr. will be the incoming secretary of the Department of Foreign Affairs.
But Duterte, amidst appointing people he personally knew and worked with, has also appointed people from different sectors. Professor Emeritus Leonor Magtolis-Briones will be the Department of Education (DepEd) secretary. Former Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines head Alfonso Cusi will be the next secretary of the Department of Energy.And Mark Villar, Manny Villar’s son and from Nacionalista Party, was appointed for the Department of Public Works and Highways Secretary post.
Much to the surprise of others, he also appointed people from the Left like Gina Lopez, ABS-CBN Foundation Chairperson, will be the Secretary for Department of Environment and Natural Resources.
Despite the wide range of diversity in the cabinet, political analysts have a good feedback with it. Richard Heydarian, DLSU Professor, stated that “Siguro ito ay dahil si Mayor Digong ay gustong mag-inject ng more representation from Mindanao and peripheries.” Incoming Neda Secretary on the other hand, says that maybe Duterte wants to try the older ones since the younger ones didn’t work out. UP Professor Jean Franco says that this is the first time we are seeing this wide mix of diversity that people comes from different sectors. Meanwhile, Former Executive Secretary Ronaldo Zamora sees this diversity as the President’s access to all available information when it comes to difficult decisions.
Overall, analysts believe that this diversity is a result of a well thought out plan. But, at the end of the day, no matter how different they are, they should be of one goal, and of one heart: to be of service to the nation.
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