President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. held his first Cabinet meeting on Tuesday morning, July 5, five days after his inauguration as the country's 17th president.
It was attended by several members of the Cabinet tapped by Marcos. The meeting started before 9 a.m.
According to Malacañang, various matters were discussed during the meeting.
In a short video uploaded by the Palace on Facebook, the President was ordering the economic team to present the "central policy" that, he said, will eventually be followed by everybody else in his Cabinet.
He stressed that the "most important area" they will have to deal with is the economy.
"We have been given a suggested agenda which we will sort of more or less follow. What I thought we should do is first of all, I have asked the what we have come to call the economics group which is the secretary of Finance, the BSP (Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas) governor, and the NEDA (National Economic Development Authority) to give us a briefing on the general situation economically because I think we can all understand that the most important area that we will have to deal with will have to be the economy," Marcos said.
"As I was saying, the central policy actually that everybody else will be eventually following will be set up by our economic managers," he added.
Vice President Sara Duterte, who also heads the Department of Education (DepEd), was among the Cabinet members present during the meeting.
In a press briefing on Monday, July 4, Communications Secretary Trixie Cruz-Angeles said the President is already in the final stages of completing his Cabinet.
At present, Marcos has yet to name the new Health secretary amid the lingering threat of Covid-19 in the country.
"I understand that this is now going through the final evaluation stage, so I don’t think it will take too long. The President is quite aware and, in fact, one of the priorities is managing the effects of this pandemic,” Angeles said.
Marcos’ press secretary further said that the President is looking "very closely and carefully at the candidates."
READ MORE: Marcos in 'final stages' of completing Cabinet, says Angeles