Manila: President Rodrigo Duterte has named former and incumbent generals to key posts in the administration, including Senator Allan Peter Schramm-Cayetano, his vice presidential running mate in last year’s presidential election.
Duterte said on Thursday morning, before leaving for an official trip that will take him to Cambodia, Hong Kong and Beijing, that he has appointed the 46-year-old Cayetano to the post of secretary of foreign affairs while incumbent Armed Forces Chief, General Eduardo Ano is expected to assume the post of Interior Secretary by October when he reaches the mandatory retirement age of 56 for armed forces and police officials.
“I want him (Ano) to complete (his term as military chief) because there are projects which he has to … No, at this time, you cannot just pull out somebody in the armed forces, especially those tasked with programming what will happen next,” Duterte said.
As for Cayetano, who lost in his vice presidential bid to Leni Robredo in the 2016 polls, the latter warmly accepted his new position as secretary of the department of foreign affairs.
Duterte had said before that he prefers Cayetano for the post of top diplomat as the latter was well versed in legal issues being a lawyer.
Cayatano comes from a family of lawyer-legislators, his father, the late Senator Renato Cayetano had served during the administration of President Fidel Ramos while his sister, Congresswoman Pia Cayatano had served for several terms as an upper chamber legislator. A brother, Lino Cayetano, had also served as a congressman.
He currently chairs the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations and is part of the delegation in numerous presidential foreign visits.
Cayetano revealed his expectations on his new assignment.
“The DFA from the secretary down to the most humble employee will not have their own agenda or their own foreign policy, but we’ll all work hard together to implement the foreign policy of the Philippines, led by the President, especially that involving the Overseas Filipino Workers (OFW),” he said.
He said the President has repeatedly reminded that providing protection and welfare for OFWs is not enough, “they should be provided with comfort and convenience,” he said.
Cayetano then cited the relevance of the Philippines under the Duterte administration where DFA plays an important part.
The new appointments came after the powerful Commission on Appointments rejected nominations made by Duterte for key Cabinets posts including Regina Lopez of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources and Perfecto Yasay of the foreign affairs department.
After Lopez was rejected, Duterte appointed former general Roy Cimatu to the post.
Cimatu, as well as Ano and Cayetano will still have to pass scrutiny by the Commission of Appointments, a powerful body made up of Senators and Congressmen.
