Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, May 1) — President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. is targeting to name more Cabinet executives, which may include candidates from the 2022 polls, after the appointment ban.
“More or less, for the beginning of… the second year of my term, palagay ko mayroong mga ano [I think there will be] not a shuffle, but we will add people to Cabinet to strengthen the Cabinet,” Marcos told reporters onboard the presidential plane on Sunday.
Names are yet to be bared as the chief executive wants to talk with his prospects first.
“They should not hear it naman from the press. They should hear it from me. Kami muna mag-uusap [We should talk first],” he said.
The Constitution states that no candidate who has lost in any election shall, within one year after such election, “be appointed to any office in the government or any government-owned or controlled corporations or in any of their subsidiaries.”
The national polls were held on May 9, 2022. Marcos won over nine candidates that included former Vice President Leni Robredo, former senators Manny Pacquiao and Panfilo Lacson, and former Manila Mayor Isko Moreno.
Other former government officials in the presidential run were Ernesto Abella who served as a presidential spokesperson in the Duterte administration, and Norberto Gonzales who was a Defense secretary during Arroyo’s term.
