President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. remains "on top things" as far as the dealings within the various government agencies are concerned.
Albay 2nd district Rep. Joey Salceda made this contention Wednesday, Aug. 17 amid the headline-grabbing controversies on the botched sugar importation and the procurement of outdated and overpriced laptops for public school teachers.
"The fact that the sugar order did not push through despite having the signatures of all members, due to PBBM's (Marcos) decision, shows that he is ultimately in charge and on top of things," Salceda said.
He was referring to the attempted importation of 300,000 metric tons (MTs) of sugar by the Sugar Regulatory Administration (SRA), which Malacañang later declared as unauthorized and thus, rejected.
"On DepEd (Department of Education) issues, they happened before VP Sara (Vice President Sara Duterte) took office," Salceda said, this time referring to the laptop issue that has been primarily linked to the Procurement Service of the Department of Budget and Management (PS-DBM).
Marcos is temporarily acting as the Department of Agriculture (DA) secretary, while Duterte is the DepEd secretary.
"I wouldn't give much credit to a conspiracy to sabotage the administration either. PBBM seems focused on solutions, not on speculations. Let's follow his example," Salceda, chairman of the House Committee on Ways and Means, said.
"What we should assess PBBM and VP Sara on is the completion of internal investigations, internal reforms to prevent similar incidents from taking place, and their actions to address the societal needs assigned to their agencies.
"Again, let's not get distracted by baseless speculations. PBBM, VP Sara, and those of us in government have real problems to address," the Bicolano further said.