President Rodrigo Duterte says he’s giving the presidential appointees one week to resign from their posts. (INQUIRER PHOTO)
PRESIDENT Rodrigo Duterte is well within his authority to do some “house cleaning” when he ordered presidential appointees in government to resign within one week.
Msgr. Joseph Tan, spokesperson of the Archdiocese of Cebu, said the president is merely exercising his right as the appointing authority.
Tan cited as an example Cebu Archbishop Jose Palma’s takeover from Archbishop Emeritus Ricardo Cardinal Vidal who retired years ago.
“Ug dunay bag-ong obispo, kaming tanan, we all tendered our courtesy resignation aron ang bag-ong pamunoan dunay free hand to choose (If there’s a new bishop, all of us, we all tendered our courtesy resignation so that the new administration could have a free hand to choose),” Tan told reporters.
He pointed out that presidential appointees are positions of trust.
“The board of trustees, they will be removed if there’s lack of confidence. The president is exercising it now,” Tan said.
Last Monday, Duterte asked those who are presidential appointees to tender their resignation.
But most heads of offices in Central Visayas claimed they were not presidential appointees.
They said they are still waiting orders from their central offices on whether they would stay or go./Correspondent Carmel Loise Matus