President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. said on Thursday that he will name the new Press Secretary next week following the resignation of lawyer-vlogger Trixie Cruz-Angeles.
“Early next week, we should make the announcement,” Marcos said, noting that the incoming Cabinet member should be a “friend of the media” and someone who excels in the art of messaging.
“It’s coming soon so I don’t have to face you here,” Marcos quipped in Filipino in an interview following the oath-taking of Malacañang Press Corps officers.
“Obviously, you need somebody who is very experienced in the… probably a journalist or a media practitioner,” he said when asked what traits he is looking for in an OPS chief.
“Someone who knows messaging so what we want to come out will really come across. That’s what’s important — that we get the information, the messaging across,” he added.
He disclosed three candidates for the position are being evaluated. “We are down to a shortlist of three. So, we’re trimming it down,” he said while refusing to name them.
Last Wednesday, Transportation Undersecretary Cesar Chavez, Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation director Gilbert Remulla, film director Paul Soriano, and former Press Secretary Mike Toledo admitted they are being considered to replace Cruz-Angeles.
Toledo said he finds no reason not to accept the post if offered to him. Chavez and Soriano said there are more qualified persons for the post than them.
Cruz-Angeles cited “health reasons” in stepping down from the OPS on 4 October, the day the President administered the oath of 10 Cabinet members he reappointed after they were bypassed by the Commission on Appointments. She was not among those reappointed.
Commission on Audit chairperson Jose Calida and former Executive Secretary Victor Rodriguez have also “resigned.”
Rodriguez was immediately replaced by former Chief Justice Lucas Bersamin.