PRESIDENT Rodrigo Duterte on Tuesday, October 9, expressed his intent to appoint Chief Presidential Legal Counsel Salvador Panelo as the head of the Office of the Press Secretary (OPS), which has yet to be reestablished through an executive order.
Duterte first offered the position of Press Secretary to Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque Jr., but he lamented that the latter seemed to be undecided on whether to accept the post or run for senator in the 2019 mid-term elections.
"I'm going to reorganize. Press Secretary [might be] Sal Panelo, Tignan muna natin kung makakakuha ako ng presidential legal counsel (Let's see if I will be able to appoint his replacement as presidential legal counsel)," the President said in an interview with Palace reporters.
"Si Roque... It's not my fault actually. Sabi niya tatakbo siya, hindi siya tatakbo, tatakbo. Tapos sabi ko mamili na kaagad ako para walang paralyisis sa functions (On Roque, it's not my fault actually. He said he will run, and then he said he will not run, and again, he said he will run. So I said I will pick a new one so there will be no paralysis in the government's functions)," he added.
It was Communications Secretary Jose Ruperto Martin Andanar who first revealed on October 6 that Roque has been offered to lead the soon to be revived OPS.
Former president Benigno Aquino III in 2010 signed Executive Order 4, reorganizing the OPS into the Presidential Communications Operations Office (PCOO) and the Presidential Communications Development and Strategic Planning Office (PCDSPO).
Duterte abolished PCDSPO in 2016 and transferred its functions to the PCOO, which was supposed to be renamed the Presidential Communications Office. (SunStar Philippines)