Solon asks PBBM: Don't recycle election losers in Cabinet
President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. (left), Cagayan de Oro 2nd district Rep. Rufus Rodriguez (Facebook)
Please don't recycle election losers in the Cabinet. This was Cagayan de Oro 2nd district Rep. Rufus Rodriguez's plea to President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. Wednesday, May 10, after the one-year appointment ban on election candidates lapsed. "I hope that PBBM (Marcos) will not appoint and recycle losers in the May 2022 elections. High government positions should not become a refuge of political has-beens," said Rodriguez, chairman of the House Committee on Constitutional Amendments. The lapse of the appointment ban means that the Palace can appoint non-winners from last year's polls to government positions, be it of Cabinet rank or lower. Cabinet officials are often referred to as alter egos of the President. At any rate, Rodriguez, an administration backer, reckoned that it's high time Marcos appoints a full-time Department of Agriculture (DA) secretary. Marcos is the concurrent DA chief. "It should not be because of the lifting of appointment ban, but the real need now for a full time DA secretary. The President has his hands already full in international relations and immediate domestic needs of our country," Rodriguez said. "There are many deserving and competent persons from the private sector with vast experience in agriculture to lead the DA. I would recommend that the next DA Secretary be From Mindanao, the island being the Philippines breadbasket," he said. "It is also high time to transfer the DA central office to Mindanao where our country’s agricultural batteground is set," he further said.