PRESIDENT Rodrigo Duterte on Tuesday, October 2, announced that he fired Labor Undersecretary Joel Maglungsod, the last left-leaning official who holds a position in his cabinet.
"Joel Maglungsod, pinaalis ko (I fire Joel Maglungsod)," the President said in a speech delivered at Camp Juan Ponce Sumuroy in Catarman, Samar.
Maglungsod is a former representative of Anakpawis party-list. He is also a political detainee during the Marcos dictatorship.
Duterte made the announcement during the presentation of former communist rebels, as he once again expressed dismay over the communists' ideology.
The Chief Executive said he has had enough of the communist insurgents' apparent resistance to cooperate with the government, even after he had yielded to their demands.
"Pinag-bigyan ko sila noong bago ako kasi gusto ko ma... Nandoon sila sa opisina -- Joel Maglungsod, sila lahat (I have given them the opportunity to serve when I assumed office because I want them to... They have position in the government -- Joel Maglungsod and all of them)," he said.
"Eh 'yung mga ideology niyo. Pero in the long run, gusto nila pati sila magdala ng gobyerno. Makipag-away ka sa akin, makipag-barilan ka tapos ngayon sabihin mo kasama tayo sa gobyerno, itong mga powers na 'to. Kalokohan iyan," Duterte added.
(You have your ideology, but in the long run, you want to control the government. You are opposing me. You shoot the government troops and now, you want to join the government and wield powers? That's stupid.)
When he assumed office in 2016, Duterte appointed members of the Left after communist founder Jose Maria Sison supported his presidential bid.
However, the ad interim appointments of former secretaries Rafael Mariano (Agriculture) and Judy Taguiwalo (Labor) were rejected with finality by the powerful Commission on Appointments last year.
The President in December fired former Kabataan partylist Representative Terry Ridon as the head of the Presidential Commission for the Urban Poor over supposed excessive foreign travels.
Sison announced in June that the communist party would no longer pursue a peace dialogue with the Duterte government. The communist leader's decision came after Duterte delayed the resumption of peace negotiations originally scheduled in the same month.
Two months after, Liza Maza, a former representative of Gabriela partylist, resigned as National Anti-Poverty Commission chairperson. (SunStar Philippines)