Palace confirms resignation of Duterte Cabinet member

MANILA, Philippines - Malacañang confirmed yesterday reports that Jaime Ma. Flores has resigned as chairman of the Governance Commission for Government Owned and Controlled Corporations (GCG) effective Oct. 24.

Flores is the first Cabinet member to resign from the Duterte administration.

In a text message, Communications Secretary Martin Andanar said Flores quit his post but did not elaborate.

He added that Executive Secretary Salvador Medialdea would be the one to shed light on Flores’ resignation.

But Medialdea has not responded to queries as of press time.

The GCG, created under the GOCC Governance Act of 2011, is the agency tasked to coordinate policies among government corporations. It screens appointments to GOCCs and may recommend the suspension of any GOCC board member as a way of stopping corruption in the offices under it.

Under the Act, the GCG chairman is a Cabinet level official and his office is attached directly to the Office of the President.

In an ABS-CBN report, GCG corporate governance office director Gene Carl Tupas said the office would continue to function pending formal acceptance of the resignation. 

“We assure the transacting public that our services will not be hampered and we will continue to serve the Filipino people as always,” Tupas said.

Earlier, President Duterte said he was not aware of Flores’ resignation.