With heavy heart, Rody accepts...

MANILA, Philippines - While accepting “with a heavy heart” the resignation of Vice President Leni Robredo from the Cabinet, President Duterte was quick to name her replacement yesterday.

And the new housing czar is the same man who relayed to Robredo the President’s desire that she stop attending Cabinet meetings.

Leoncio Evasco Jr., the secretary to the Cabinet, was appointed by the President yesterday as the new chair of the Housing and Urban Development Coordinating Council(HUDCC).

“It is with a heavy heart that I accept the resignation of Vice President Leni Robredo,” Duterte was quoted by Presidential Communications Secretary Martin Andanar as saying.

Duterte did not say anything about Robredo’s resignation in his speech during the ceremonial lighting of a 12-foot-tall Christmas tree at Malacañang Palace.

The President, however, mentioned the need for unity during his 21-minute speech, which he decided to cut short when the rain started.

“I plead for the unity of the country, that we shall be freed of the communal wars. I plead for the next generation that there will be Filipinos able, competent, healthy and good,” Duterte said.

“I plead for peace so that our citizens can move around any time of the day or night. And I ask everybody in government that together we will stop corruption, the very reason why until now, we are still in the runway and we have been running at full length towards the stretch and until now the Philippines has not really progressed for so many years,” he added.

Duterte also had a message to the political opposition, which Robredo said she is ready to lead.

“To the opposition, just wait. You had your days,” he said, apparently referring to the Liberal Party, the dominant political force during the previous administration.

Evasco said the President has the prerogative to withdraw appointments.

“Cabinet members are personally appointed by the President; and it is also his prerogative to withdraw the same for reasons known only to him. Cabinet members accept the appointment with the implicit agreement that they agree with his program, platform and policies,” Evasco said in a statement. 

“While there may be matters they take issue with, these are to be handled consensually because it is vital for the Cabinet to be united,” he added.

Officials were mum on the reported differences between Duterte and Robredo. Evasco, however, hinted that Robredo’s public statements criticizing some administration policies did not sit well with the President.

“It is important that while one is a member of the Cabinet to express one’s views discreetly and not be adversarial publicly. If in any case, a member finds cause, it is his or her prerogative to resign from the Cabinet,” Evasco said.

“It is our duty to defend the dignity and integrity of the Filipino people. If Cabinet members cannot agree with the President’s policy they are free to resign,” he added.

Not about Marcos

Presidential spokesman Ernesto Abella, for his part, made it clear Duterte’s decision on Robredo had nothing to do with alleged plots to steal the vice presidency from her. 

“I don’t know about the plot, but I think that’s quite stretched,” Abella said in a chance interview.

“That may be her opinion. But as far as I know from the Cabinet part, (there’s no plan to unseat her),” he added.

Asked if Duterte would have wanted Robredo to stay in the Cabinet, Abella said: “At the end of the day, there’s no attachment. He wanted her in, but it’s her choice to leave.”

Pressed if the President had fired Robredo as housing chief, Abella said: “She was simply asked to desist from coming to the (Cabinet) meeting.”