MANILA: “This is not about friendship or our love for each other, but about public service.”
Speaking in Filipino, this was how President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. described the act of putting the entire cabinet on probation to assess their performance following the results of the 2025 midterm elections.
In a teaser for the BBM Podcast #2 posted by the Presidential Communications Office (PCO) on Sunday (June 15), journalist Cheryl Cosim reiterated Marcos’ previous pronouncement that putting the entire government on probation is not “business as usual.”
Marcos likened the situation to the military where non-compliance with a duty will get an officer relieved from his post.
“That’s what we should do. We have to be very, very strict. Look, even if you’re my friend and I love you, but you don’t do your job,” Marcos said.
The PCO said that the whole podcast’s episode will be uploaded on Monday, 3 p.m. on the official YouTube channel of the President.
Last May 22, Marcos made an unprecedented order for all cabinet members to tender their courtesy resignations. This paved the way for Marcos to review each department’s performance and decide on which one will remain in their post or not.
`They expect results’
Marcos previously said that “[t]he people have spoken, and they expect results— not politics, not excuses. We hear them, and we will act.”
Palace Press Officer Claire Castro previously assured the public that government operations remain normal despite the submission of resignations of the cabinet members.
Marcos retained the government’s economic team, comprising of Budget and Management Secretary Amenah Pangandaman, Finance Secretary Ralph Recto, Trade and Industry Secretary Cristina Roque, Economy, Planning, and Development Secretary Arsenio Balisacan, and Special Assistant to the President for Investment and Economic Affairs Secretary Frederick Go.
Marcos also declined the courtesy resignations of Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr., Education Secretary Eduardo Angara, Health Secretary Teodoro Herbosa, Transportation Secretary Vince Dizon, Labor and Employment Secretary Bienvenido Laguesma, among others.
Meanwhile, Marcos accepted the resignations of some cabinet members, particularly non-departmental officials, including Presidential Commission for the Urban Poor Meynard Sabili, Presidential Assistant for Visayas Terence Calatrava, and Presidential Adviser on Muslim Affairs Almarim Tillah. - Philippine Daily Inquirer/ANN
