No replacement has been picked yet to fill the post left at the Department of Justice (DOJ) by former Undersecretary Markk Perete, Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra said on Friday.
“For now, I’ll reassign his duties and responsibilities to other DOJ officials,” said Guevarra.
The secretary added that Perete has not made any recommendations for his replacement.
“I’ll handle that myself,” Guevarra said.
Perete resigned as DOJ undersecretary in a letter submitted to Malacanang on Thursday, Oct. 1.
“Before doing so, he explained to me the reasons for tendering his resignation,” Guevarra had earlier said.
“As these reasons were very personal, the least that we could do for him is to respect his privacy and wish him well,” Guevarra said and declined to disclose the reasons for the resignation.
Prior to his decision to resign, Perete had shown no hints of leaving the DOJ.
“After much thought, I have decided to submit my resignation from the DOJ effective today due to serious reasons,” Perete had announced on Thursday.
“I would have liked to continue under Secretary Guevarra's leadership but it would be a disservice to do so at this time,” he added.
Perete was brought into the DOJ by Guevarra back in in 2018 along with Undersecretaries Emmeline Aglipay-Villar and Adrian Sugay.
Prior to his stint at the DOJ, Perete was technical assistant with the rank of Assistant Secretary for Legal Affairs at the Office of the President.