Former DILG Sec. Benhur Abalos/ Photo courtesy of PNA
President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. appointed former interior secretary Benhur Abalos as Cabinet secretary, Malacañang announced on Wednesday.
Palace press officer Claire Castro said Abalos was scheduled to take his oath before Marcos in Malacañang on the same day.
Abalos led the Department of the Interior and Local Government from 2022 to 2024 before returning to the administration in a new Cabinet post.
Castro said Abalos would assist the President by giving strategic and timely advice on political developments, including domestic, local and international matters affecting the government.
She said Abalos would also act as Marcos’ liaison with government agencies, local government units, political groups, civil society organizations and sectoral groups on concerns assigned by the President.
As Cabinet secretary, Abalos would also lead the Strategic Action and Response Office and supervise its attached offices.
His appointment restored the Office of the Cabinet Secretary, which Marcos abolished in July 2022 under Executive Order No. 1 as part of a reorganization that also dissolved the Presidential Anti-Corruption Commission.
In a media interview in Kazan, Russia, in June 2026, Marcos said he wanted Abalos to take on a more active government role, but said the move would not displace any sitting Cabinet official amid speculation that Interior Secretary Jonvic Remulla could be replaced.