Marcos sacks 3 more, including Palace liaison to Congress
President Marcos has accepted the courtesy resignations of three more government officials, including a Cabinet official who was tasked to serve as liaison between the executive branch and Congress and push the administration’s legislative agenda.
Presidential Adviser on Legislative Affairs Mark Llandro Mendoza, Presidential Adviser on Military and Police Affairs Roman Felix, and PNOC Renewables Corp. president and chief executive John Arenas are the latest to go in the President’s ongoing performance review.
In a press briefing, Presidential Communications Office Undersecretary and Malacañang press officer Claire Castro said more names of retained or relieved government officials will be announced soon.
“The acceptance of the courtesy resignations and the retention of others is proof of the ongoing evaluation of the heads of agencies and other public officials that the President trusts,” she said.
Castro said there was no word yet on the status of Antonio Lagdameo Jr., the special assistant to the President; and Carlito Galvez Jr., the presidential adviser on peace, reconciliation and unity.
6 GOCC heads stay
Mendoza and Felix are Cabinet-rank officials. Arenas’ PNOC Renewables is a subsidiary of the Philippine National Oil Co., which is under the Department of Energy.
A former House secretary general and congressman, Mendoza was tapped in August 2022 to head the Presidential Legislative Liaison Office.
The position given to Felix—a retired one-star police general—was created in June 2022 when Mr. Marcos issued Executive Order No. 1 to reorganize the Office of the President and its sub-agencies and staff support system.
The presidential adviser on military and police affairs is under Lagdameo’s supervision.
Castro also said Mr. Marcos was retaining the current heads of six other GOCCs or government-owned and -controlled corporations.
They are Government Service Insurance System president and general manager Jose Arnulfo Veloso; Land Bank of the Philippines president and CEO Ma. Lynette Ortiz; Development Bank of the Philippines president and CEO Michael de Jesus; National Irrigation Administration chief Eduardo Eddie Guillen; Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office general manager Melquiades Robles; and Philippine Health Insurance Corp. acting president Edwin Mercado.
39 kept, 10 out
The President has so far retained 39 officials and removed 10 others since ordering Cabinet officials, heads of government agencies, and GOCCs to file courtesy resignations on May 22.
The Palace described the move as a “bold reset” following the May 12 polls, where the administration’s senatorial ticket produced only six winners in the vote for 12 slots.
Mr. Marcos said the performance review is aimed at recalibrating and realigning the government with the needs of the public, whose sentiments were expressed in the election results.
In later statements, the President said the review he ordered was “not just for optics” and that it will be done every quarter.
‘Get out of the way’
In the second episode of his BBM Podcast released earlier this week, he said he would be “very, very strict” in dealing with subordinates, even if they are also his personal friends, in checking whether they had underperformed.
Mr. Marcos also said he had actually fired a number of officials since assuming office in 2022 without making his decisions public.
“I am about the work. If you’re not helping, get out of the way. If you won’t help us, get out of here. Do whatever you want, but let us do our jobs. That’s my attitude all the time,” the President said in the podcast, as interviewed by TV5 broadcast journalist Cheryl Cosim.
“So whatever ‘get out of the way’ means—you’re fired or placed on floating status or reshuffled to another part of the government. Whatever it is, just get out of the way so I can do my job,” he added.
