Chavez third Marcos media chief to exit in under 3 years
- PCOO’s acting chief, Cesar Chavez, has resigned. He doused rumors that he was fired by the President, but admitted that he fell short of what was expected of him.
- Veteran broadcast journalist Jay Ruiz will lead the PCOO starting next week. Ruiz, 50, has deep familial ties to Ilocos Norte just like the President. His late father, lawyer Alfonso Ruiz, served as mayor of Sarrat, Ilocos Norte, for 17 years.
- Ruiz spent more than two decades as an ABS-CBN reporter covering defense and presidential elections. In 2020, Ruiz returned to DZMM Teleradyo as cohost of “Kwentong Lokal” and in 2024, launched a YouTube channel where he interviewed political figures and influencers.
Ending weeks of speculation, Presidential Communications Office (PCO) acting Secretary Cesar Chavez announced his irrevocable resignation from the Marcos Cabinet on Thursday, just five months since his appointment in September last year.
He is the third PCO chief to exit the President’s official family.
Lawyer-vlogger Trixie Cruz-Angeles was Mr. Marcos’ first PCO secretary, who served the shortest stint at only four months from June to October 2022.
She was succeeded by lawyer Cheloy Velicaria-Garafil in October 2022 and headed the PCO until September 2024, after which she was appointed chair of the Manila Economic and Cultural Office, the country’s de facto embassy in Taiwan.
Chavez doused rumors that he was fired by the President, but admitted that he fell short of what was expected of him as chief of Malacañang’s premier communications arm.
“I was not fired. No one told me to resign,” Chavez said in a message to the Inquirer shortly after announcing his decision to quit.
In a statement sent to Malacañang reporters and posted on Facebook, Chavez said that he submitted his irrevocable resignation to Mr. Marcos on Feb. 5—around the same time that rumors about his looming exit from the Palace first circulated in government and media circles.
“To use a broadcast parlance, I will be signing off as Acting Secretary of the (PCO) on Feb. 28, 2025, or anytime earlier when my replacement is appointed,” Chavez said, referring to former ABS-CBN broadcast journalist Jay Ruiz, who will be taking over as PCO head.
He said he had spoken to Ruiz and promised to introduce him to the PCO staff upon his return to work on Monday, Feb. 24.
Longtime journalist
This is for Ruiz to have a one-week transition before formally assuming his new role on March 1.
Chavez said he hoped that this kind of leadership transition would be eventually institutionalized in other government agencies.
Ruiz, 50, has deep familial ties to Ilocos Norte just like the President.
His father is lawyer Alfonso Ruiz, who served as mayor of Sarrat, Ilocos Norte, for 17 years. The elder Ruiz passed away in 2019 at the age of 78.
Sarrat is also the birthplace of the President’s father and namesake, Ferdinand Marcos Sr.
After graduating from the University of the Philippines with a degree in speech and drama, Ruiz spent more than two decades as an ABS-CBN reporter covering the defense and police beat.
He also covered the Liberal Party during the 2016 presidential elections and quit ABS-CBN shortly after to work for then Senate President Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel III.
In 2020, Ruiz returned to DZMM Teleradyo as cohost of “Kwentong Lokal.” He also launched a YouTube channel in 2024 where he interviewed political figures.
In 2022, he founded Sentro Artista, an art gallery and cafe that collaborated with the government on several occasions.
Public service
In November last year, the art gallery worked with the Congressional Spouses Foundation Inc. for an art and fashion exhibit at the House of Representatives to raise funds for the victims of Tropical Storm “Kristine.”
Although Chavez was coy about the story behind his exit from the Marcos administration, he said he failed to meet the expectations set for him as Mr. Marcos’ chief communications official.
“I leave with only one regret: in my estimation, I have fallen short of what was expected of me. It is to this fidelity to the truth—the bedrock belief to which I have anchored myself as a former broadcast journalist—that I must tell the unvarnished truth about my resignation,” he said.
Chavez earlier filed a leave on Feb. 17 to Feb. 21 and designated PCO Senior Undersecretary Emerald Anne Ridao as officer in charge of the office.
His absence bolstered rumors that he was on the way out of the Marcos administration.
Pressed by the Inquirer on what prompted him to quit, Chavez begged off from expounding on his reasons, but stressed that he was happy to have served in the Marcos administration as PCO head even for only five months.
During Chavez’s stint, he made few reassignments at the PCO and brought with him a number of former journalists, among them Julius Leonen, Florante Solmerin, Alexius “Alex” Calda and Fernando “Dindo Amparo” Sanga.
In the early months of the Marcos administration, Chavez served as transportation undersecretary for rails and PCO senior undersecretary for strategic communications in December 2023 during Velicaria-Garafil’s term.
Despite his exit from the Marcos Cabinet, Chavez vowed to continue supporting the President even if he is no longer serving as a government official.
