Año stays until he wants, as Marcos continues ‘review’ of admin

‘He has kindly agreed to stay on in the NSC as he feels,’ says President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. of Eduardo Año

MANILA, Philippines — President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. will be retaining Secretary Eduardo Año as National Security Adviser as long as his health allows, Palace press officer Undersecretary Claire Castro said in a briefing on Tuesday, June 10.

“Ayon po sa ating Pangulo (According to the President) and I quote, ‘Secretary Año has been having to deal with health issues ever since the time of the pandemic, however, he has kindly agreed to stay on in the NSC as he feels.’ And the President agrees, our President agrees that he can continue to do the fine job he has been doing,” said Castro in a briefing.

Castro added that Año keeps his post “hangga’t kakayanin po ng kaniyang kalusugan (for as long as his health allows).”

In an earlier chance interview, Marcos told reporters that his call for Cabinet officials and heads of agencies to tender their courtesy resignations was not a “Cabinet revamp” but a “process of examining.”

“What happened really here was that I put everyone on notice, that you are all on – basically all on probation. And okay, this time it looks like ‘yung iba, mabuti naman, maganda naman ang performance. Ngayon, nasa usec na tayo, nasa mga agencies na tayo (Others are doing well, they perform well. Now we’re at the Undersecretary level of the agencies),” said Marcos.

“This is something… It is essentially putting all government agencies, departments, on notice that we have to do better. And we will be looking very, very closely. And we will make that review on a periodic basis or maybe a quarterly basis,” he added.

The President also promised to be more “rigorous in looking at the performance.” “And that’s why we will see… I’m sure you will see more changes in the future,” he added.

In late May, Marcos asked all Secretary-level officials, heads of agencies, and heads of government corporations to tender their courtesy resignations. Marcos has retained most of his Cabinet, save for several officials, including heads of foreign affairs, housing, higher education, and environment, among others. Marcos also replaced his Solicitor General. – Rappler.com