A Mindanao lawmaker has praised President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s directive for all Cabinet secretaries to submit their courtesy resignations, saying it gives the Chief Executive full discretion to replace underperforming officials or those who fail to defend him amid criticism or opposition attacks.
“I believe he (the President) should appoint to the Cabinet people who have unquestionable integrity and loyalty to him and his administration…people who as his alter ego can deliver their respective mandates to the people that we serve and will not think twice in condemning Chinese aggression in the West Philippine Sea and defend him on other national issues thrown against him and his administration,” Surigao del Norte Rep. Robert Ace Barbers said.
Barbers, chair of both the House Quad Committee and the House Committee on Dangerous Drugs, said some Cabinet members’ lackluster performance appears to hinder the President’s vision and accomplishments—particularly on health, food security, and peace and order—from reaching and being felt by the general public.
“It is now timely that he come up with new marching orders to implement a reinvigorated system of governance with certain innovations that will be appreciated by the masses. The President is on the right track. And he must act promptly and decisively in order to preserve the gains of his administration,” he stressed.
