Four more join the Cabinet of presumptive president Ferdinand Marcos Jr. They are Arsenio Balisacan for NEDA, Susan Toots Ople for Department of Migrant Workers, Bienvenido Laguesma for Department of Labor and Employment and re-elected Rep. Jesus Crispin “Boying” Remulla of 7th District of Cavite for Department of Justice.
Four more individuals offered to join the Cabinet of presumptive president Ferdinand Marcos Jr. have accepted the offers. They are Arsenio Balisacan, Bienvenido Laguesma, Susan “Toots” Ople and Cavite Rep. Jesus Crispin “Boying” Remulla.
Balisacan will go to the National Economic and Development Authority, Laguesma to the Department of Labor, Ople to the new Department of Migrant Workers and Remulla to the Department of Justice.
But the most important Cabinet post, at least the major concern of investors, is the Department of Finance, which has been taking time to fill up despite offers sent to some banking and investment executives.
Todate, positions that have already filled up are: Executive Secretary or the “little president” which was offered and accepted by Marcos Jr.’s long-time chief of staff and spokesman, Atty. Victor Rodriguez, presumptive vice president Sara Duterte-Carpio for education and Marcos’ campaign manager, Benhur Abalos to the Department of Interior and Local Government.
Balisacan, the first to head the Philippine Competition Commission under the Duterte administration, had been NEDA secretary under the administration of President Benigno Aquino III.
Laguesma was formerly head of the Social Security System also under Aquino and is returning to the DOLE from 1998 to 2001.
Ople—daughter of the late DOLE Secretary and Senator Blas F. Ople—is a politician and advocate of Overseas Filipino Workers’ vowed to put the DMW structure together and make sure it is functional to service the needs of overseas Filipino workers and their families.
Remulla as justice secretary was re-elected representative of the 7th district of Cavite in the just-concluded May 2022 elections.
Remulla’s leaving the legislative, to become justice secretary of the Marcos Cabinet, would leave a vacancy which could only lead to two scenarios: a special election that would require a law calling for it or the designation of a caretaker legislator from a nearby district, said Commission on Election Commissioner George Garcia.
How the vacancy will be filled will be up to the leadership of the House of Representatives in the 19th Congress, Garcia added. As things stand, Rep. Martin Romualdez (Tacloban City) — a cousin of Marcos — has been touted as the next House speaker.
"We will wait for the Congress. If the Congress will say ‘we will fill up the position, conduct a special election,’ we will conduct the special election," Garcia said.
Although Garcia said that caretaker legislators would likely come from a nearby district, that has not always been the practice.
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