Hasten Cabinet ‘reset,’ Lacson urges Marcos
Senator-elect Panfilo Lacson on Thursday urged President Marcos to act quickly on the pending courtesy resignations of his Cabinet members to avoid possible inefficiency and divisiveness in the ranks.
Lacson, who is set to start his fourth six-year term as senator in July, said there has been intense “jockeying for positions” in the Cabinet, with some resorting to foul means, since the President ordered officials’ courtesy resignations on May 22.
“An unsolicited advice: the President should act quickly on the pending courtesy resignations. The season for jockeying for positions has intensified with the usual circulation of ‘white papers’ and floating of names of ‘applicants’ to fill up some still ‘unvacated posts,’” Lacson said in a statement.
“Uncertainty often leads to inefficiency and divisiveness in the ranks,” he added.
While the President has so far accepted the resignations of some Cabinet officials who submitted their courtesy resignations, he has retained key members of his economic team, citing the need to sustain financial stability.
Some members of the Cabinet were also reassigned to other posts.
Lacson earlier stressed that the President, more than recalibrating his administration, must exercise his persuasive powers over Congress to end indiscriminate insertions and “pork barrel” in the 2026 budget.
Also, he pushed for the integration of the government’s cash aid programs under the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program in the National Expenditure Program, the proposed budget bill Malacañang will submit to Congress.
“With the President taking the lead in at least tempering the insatiable greed of some legislators, I vow to do my share in helping him come up with a national budget that is truly responsive to the people’s clamor for sanity and a little timidity among the members of Congress in addressing the needs of their constituents,” Lacson said.
