‘Unhappy’ Duterte eyes Cabinet revamp

Malacanang yesterday hinted at a revamp in the Cabinet of President Rodrigo Duterte, saying the chief executive was “unhappy” with the performance of some members of his official family.
In a television interview, Palace spokesman Harry Roque Jr said Duterte revealed the plan to several journalists in a recent interview at the Palace.
“The president spoke to about a dozen journalists who had the chance to interview him in Malacanang. He really told them that he was not happy with the performance of some secretaries, and that there will be changes in the Cabinet,” Roque said over GMA Network’s “Unang Hirit” morning show.
Roque, however, declined to identify who these officials were.
Duterte on Tuesday said he would replace Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre if the charges against alleged drug traders Peter Lim and Kerwin Espinosa would be dismissed.
“I will invoke my power of supervision and control and will review the dismissal,” Roque posted on Facebook, quoting Duterte.
Roque however said yesterday that Aguirre continued to enjoy the president’s trust.
“Well, if the president has lost trust in him (Aguirre), the president would not wait for him to tender his resignation, he would simply sack him,” he said.
But Roque said that Duterte “really got angry” over the recommendation of a panel of prosecutors to drop the charges against Lim and Espinosa, both of whom the president had tagged as drug lords.
After Duterte’s pronouncement, Aguirre formed a new panel of prosecutors to review the resolution. The Department of Justice (DoJ), in a resolution released on Monday, recommended the withdrawal of a drug-related complaint against Lim, Espinosa and other alleged drug offenders because of lack of evidence.
Also yesterday, the Presidential Anti-Corruption Commission (PACC) said it had taken steps to investigate the controversial dismissal of the drug case against Lim, Espinosa and several other suspects.
PACC Commissioner Greco Belgica said he was reviewing the 41-page resolution signed by Assistant State Prosecutors Michael John Humarang and Aristotle Reyes.
Aguirre had ordered an investigation of the prosecutors who handled the case, as well as Senior Assistant State Prosecutor Rassendell Rex Gingoyon and Acting Prosecutor General Jorge Catalan Jr.
Reyes and Humarang have blamed the Philippine National Police’s Criminal Investigation and Detection Group for submitting a weak case.
Belgica, also the spokesman of the commission, said: “There is no acceptable reason why Kerwin, Peter Lim et al. should be released,” he said.
“The main advocacy of the president is illegal drugs, but they (DoJ prosecutors) release them (drug lords). That is why we are looking at the case,” he added.
PACC chairman Dante Jimenez, in a separate interview, said the commission would focus on corruption and might conduct a lifestyle check.
“We will conduct our review based on the instruction of the president to spare no one,” Jimenez added.
The PACC was established by Executive Order 43 on October 4, 2017, to strengthen the Duterte administration’s efforts to clear the government of corruption.
It has the power to hear, investigate, receive, gather, and evaluate evidence, intelligence reports, and information in administrative cases against all presidential appointees in the Executive branch.
It may also investigate military and police appointees upon instruction of the president.
Belgica said the PACC was handling 700 cases from the Office of the President alone.