DUTERTE
Davao City — President-elect Rodrigo Duterte wants to be Secretary of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), according to an Inquirer source.
The source said Duterte wanted to handle the department “for at least a year with the help of a former military officer.”
Earlier reports said Bayan Muna Rep. Carlos Zarate was nominated by the National Democratic Front (NDF) to be DENR Secretary, but he begged off claiming that he preferred to continue his work in Congress.
Duterte offered the post to the NDF, but later took it back. He said he wanted a former military man to head the department.
Duterte was holding a meeting yesterday afternoon with personalities he earlier named to be part of his Cabinet.
A source inside the building where the meeting was ongoing said only the initial composition of Duterte’s Cabinet was allowed inside the room.
Unlike in his previous meetings, protocols were stricter with those inside the meeting instructed to turn their mobile phones off.
The aides of Duterte’s Cabinet members and other personalities were restricted to the waiting area.
Among those present in the meeting were Las Piñas Rep. Mark Villar, Duterte’s choice for Public Works Secretary; Duterte’s security adviser Hermogenes Esperon; chosen Executive Secretary Salvador Medialdea; Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas chair and former Anakpawis Rep. Rafael Mariano, who is being considered for the post of Agrarian Reform Secretary; and former UP professor Judy Taguiwalo, who is being considered for the post of Social Welfare and Development Secretary.