Castro complies as new PCO chief orders courtesy resignations
Palace press officer Undersecretary Claire Castro submitted her courtesy resignation on Wednesday as part of the revamp of the Presidential Communications Office (PCO) under its newly appointed head.
She immediately tendered her resignation in compliance with the order of her new boss, PCO acting Secretary Dave Gomez, Castro said in an interview on 105.9 True FM.
“This will give [Gomez] the leeway to choose the people he wants to work with at the PCO. Of course, it is better if he is familiar with the people he will be working with,” Castro added.
In a memorandum dated July 14 but made public only on Wednesday, Gomez directed all incumbent political appointees at the PCO and its attached agencies to file their “unqualified” courtesy resignations no later than July 18, subject to pertinent civil service laws, rules and regulations.
The order covers more than 40 undersecretaries, assistant secretaries and directors of the PCO Central Office, and other heads of its attached agencies. At least two career officials are exempted from submitting their courtesy resignations.
Surprise directive
But until any action is taken by Gomez on the submitted courtesy resignations, status quo will prevail.
The PCO officials “shall continue to report for work and perform their usual duties and responsibilities, subject to any modification that the new leadership of PCO may deem proper to adopt in the meantime,” the memo read.
This means that unless Gomez accepts Castro’s resignation, she will remain as PCO undersecretary.
The call for courtesy resignations came as a surprise, as Gomez had declared on his first day as PCO chief that revamping the PCO was not among his priorities.
“I need to conduct a fair, honest to goodness, unbiased performance audit in the office. I want to be fair to everyone,” he said.
The next day, however, he confirmed the directive, telling Malacañang reporters that “it’s part of the standard transition process to request the courtesy resignations of all political appointees.”
‘Deliver the truth’
According to Castro, she herself is not aware of any specific complaints from the Palace against her, nor were there calls for her removal at the PCO.
She also denied alleged instructions from her principals in Malacañang, especially President Marcos, for her to step back from her daily briefings or to tone down her delivery in answering the press.
“I think all they expect of me is to deliver the truth. Whatever I know and hold to be true, that is what I will stand for,” Castro said.
A lawyer by profession, the 56-year-old Castro was appointed to the PCO in February, along with Gomez’s predecessor, former PCO acting Secretary Jay Ruiz.
She has a sizable following online, with her main YouTube account—“Batas with Atty. Claire Castro,” where she offers free legal advice to viewers—having amassed 487,000 subscribers in just five years.
As press officer, Castro has been a feisty talking head in almost daily briefings at the Palace and a de facto spokesperson of the Marcos government.
She does not only field questions about the President but also answers inquiries on a broad range of topics, including most recently about alleged online disinformation targeting the Marcos family, and the exchange of tirades between the administration and the family of former President Rodrigo Duterte.
Her curt and sometimes hard-hitting responses have drawn both praise and criticism from across the political spectrum.
“I actually speak gently,” Castro said. “It just so happens that sometimes I may raise my voice because we need to fight fake news.”
Free hand
The PCO has seen a parade of courtesy resignations this year. Before Gomez came in, Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin issued a Feb. 25 memo instructing all political appointees at the PCO to submit their courtesy resignations to give Ruiz a free hand in performing his duties and functions as the newly appointed PCO acting secretary at the time.
By mid-June, when Ruiz was reappointed after having been bypassed by the Commission on Appointments, 17 PCO officials would make their exit when their courtesy resignations were accepted.
