SITOY
CORDOVA Vice Mayor Adelino Sitoy will be leaving his elective post as he will be heading to the Malacañang next month.
Sitoy confirmed yesterday that he has been appointed by President Rodrigo Duterte as Presidential Adviser on Legislative Affairs and at the same time as head of the Presidential Legislative Liaison Office (PLLO).
“I haven’t received the appointment. But I’ve been called by cell phone that the position will be effective on September 1. I will have to go to Malacañang. I have to resign before that,” Sitoy said in a phone interview.
Sitoy said the Malacañang call came from Astravel Pimentel Naik, who will be his secretary in the PLLO.
He explained that his major roles for the two positions will be to liaison between President and all senators and congressmen.
He said he will also have to monitor the bills being deliberated in Congress and report on these to the President, go over the bills that have been passed by the House of Representative and the Senate on behalf of the President and also handcarry appointments of the President to be approved by the Commission on Appointments, among others.
Sitoy will be holding office in the Malacañang with 38 personnel under him.
He said he already tendered his resignation as Cordova vice mayor to Cebu Gov. Hilario Davide III last Tuesday.
Cordova’s first municipal Councilor Victor Tago III will become the vice mayor by virtue of succession.
Sitoy said he is appointing former councilor Simgil Sitoy to fill the vacant councilor seat.
Sitoy said he had been in talks personally with Duterte about the post.
He recalled that the President, while visiting Cebu, asked him for recommendations as to who should take the post.
“During his last visit here, when he went to Camp Lapu-Lapu, when we met at the Mactan Airbase, I told him ako na lang (let me be the one). I told him I’m interested, and he said it’s approved already without thinking,” Sitoy recalled.
Sitoy has been a Duterte supporter, especially in his advocacy on federalism long before he was even considered as possible presidential candidate. When Duterte announced his attention to run for president, Sitoy said he asked permission from his party, the Liberal Party, to take a leave of absence since he had decided to work for Duterte’s campaign.