After more than 100 days, President Marcos said he is still in the process of transitioning and rightsizing the government, which is why he is yet to fill certain slots in his Cabinet, including the recently vacated Office of the Press Secretary (OPS).
Marcos said this in response to why he has not appointed OPS officer-in-charge Undersecretary Cheloy Garafil as press secretary.
In response, the President said his government was still "in transition."
"Because we are still in transition. We talk about rightsizing all the time. We are rightsizing everything, everywhere, all the time, and this is part of that," he told reporters in Pasay City on Friday, October 14.
"So, that's the reason that I said I feel we are still in transition," he added.
President Marcos said his Cabinet would be complete eventually.
"Magso-solidify na 'yang mga position na 'yan (Those positions will solidify)," he ensured.
On October 7, Malacañang confirmed that Marcos tapped Garafil to help in the OPS following the resignation of lawyer Trixie Cruz-Angeles supposedly due to health reasons, on October 4.
Angeles was one of the officials that the Commission on Appointments (CA) bypassed two weeks ago.
On October 6, Marcos said they would be naming the next press secretary "early next week" after revealing that they had narrowed the list to three people.
While he refused to identify the people on the list, he said that the next press secretary should be a "friend of the media," preferably a journalist or a media practitioner who can effectively deliver the government's message to the public.
Reports surfaced that Transportation Undersecretary Cesar Chavez, Metro Pacific Investments Corp. (MPIC) head of Government Relations Mike Toledo, Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (PAGCOR) director Gilbert Remulla, and director Paul Soriano were being considered as Angeles' replacement as Press Secretary.