At least two Cabinet officials of the outgoing Duterte administration have been nominated by President-elect Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. to man either new or old positions in government.
A statement from Press Secretary-designate Trixie Cruz-Angeles Thursday afternoon, June 23 bares that outgoing Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) Secretary Silvestre "Bebot" Bello III has been designated as chairman and resident representative-designate of the Manila Economic and Cultural Office (MECO).
In the same statement, it was revealed that Karlo Nograles has been renominated as Civil Service Commission (CSC) chairman-designate.
Appointed as DOLE secretary by President Duterte in 2016, Bello has spent decades in public service and has held various positions such as acting secretary of justice and later on solicitor general in 1998 during the term of then-President Fidel V. Ramos.
Bello was appointed Cabinet Secretary by former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo from 2004 to 2010 and was a party-list congressman from 2013 to 2016.
Meanwhile, Nograles, son of the late former House Speaker Prospero Nograles, is a former Cabinet Secretary of President Duterte.
Nograles was among the Duterte ad-interim appointees that were bypassed for lack of quorum by the Commission on Appointments (CA) earlier this month.
A lawyer like Bello, Nograles was Davao City's 1st district representative for eight years before he accepted President Duterte's appointment in the Executive branch.