A spokesperson for the Commission on Elections (Comelec) clarified on Thursday, May 22, that the poll body was not part of the President’s Cabinet amid a calll from Malacañang for all Cabinet secretaries to tender courtesy resignations.
According to Comelec Spokesman Rex Laudiangco, George Erwin Garcia, the chairman of the poll body, is not a Cabinet member.
“And the Comelec is not a part of the executive department po,” Laudiangco said after Comelec was asked if Garcia would also tender his resignation, like what some Cabinet secretaries have already done Thursday morning..
Following Malacañang's announcement, Duterte Youth Party-list demanded that Garica follow suit. Duterte Youth is one of two winning party-lists in the recent elections whose proclamation was suspended by Comelec.“The Commission on Elections is an Independent Constitutional Commission directly accountable to and answers directly to the People of the Republic of the Philippines,” added Laudiangco.
President Marcos on Thursday called on all Cabinet to submit their courtesy resignations as he said that "it's time to realign government with the people’s expectations.”
“This is not business as usual,” the President said. “The people have spoken, and they expect results—not politics, not excuses. We hear them, and we will act.”