Palace sees no reason to remove three leftist Cabinet members

July 31, 2017

Malacanang does not see any reason to remove three leftist Cabinet officials amid President Rodrigo Duterte's decision to abandon the formal peace talks with the communist rebels. In a press briefing on Monday, Senior Deputy Executive Secretary Menardo Guevarra said Social Welfare Secretary Judy Taguiwalo, Agrarian Reform Secretary Rafael Mariano and National Anti-Poverty Commission chief Liza Maza still enjoy the trust and confidence of the President. "As far as the Office of the President is concerned, we see no reason why the three so-called leftist members of the Cabinet will have to be removed. The president continues to repose trust in them," he said. He said the Anti-Subversion Law was repealed long time ago to ensure that people who advocate communism, socialism, Marxism and Maoism, among others, would not go underground and that they join the legitimate organizations so that they can espouse whatever they want. "That’s why we have these groups also in Congress. So if we have these groups in Congress, why don’t we have them as well in the President’s Cabinet?," Guevarra stressed. Duterte has decided to halt the talks with the rebels after committing atrocities against the civilians and government troops despite the ongoing peace process. (Celerina Monte/DMS)