DAVAO CITY, Philippines – Four Cabinet positions in the administration of president-elect Rodrigo Duterte remain vacant, his spokesman Salvador Panelo said yesterday.

With less than a month before his inauguration, Duterte has yet to appoint people to occupy the top posts in the departments of trade and industry, health, tourism, and environment and natural resources.

Duterte met with the members of his Cabinet for the first time last Tuesday at the so-called Malacañang of the South at the compound of the Department of Public Works and Highways here in Barangay Panacan.

He described the members of his Cabinet as persons with “integrity and honesty” and for whom he could vouch before the Commission on Appointments when the time for their confirmation comes.

He emphasized that all his officials were his personal choices and that no screening committee had recommended or picked them for him.

The president-elect said he is still in the process of talking with certain individuals who could be qualified to fill the vacant positions. He said he had considered a leftist personality to head the environment department but later changed his mind and decided a military man would be best for the job.

Duterte admitted he is having difficulty filling the vacancies in the Cabinet due to low pay.

“I am still reviewing (the records of candidates). There are so many recommendees,” Duterte said in a press conference last Tuesday. “There will be equal (opportunities). It will really be an inclusive government.”

The incoming Cabinet has at least two leftists – former Anakpawis representative Rafael Mariano as agrarian reform secretary and University of the Philippines professor Judy Taguiwalo as social welfare secretary. Mariano and Taguiwalo were nominated by the National Democratic Front (NDF).

Silvestre Bello III, who served as chief government negotiator with the NDF, will assume the position of labor secretary.

The president-elect also said he would accommodate Muslim appointees but did not specify what positions would be given to them.

With regard to the health department, Duterte said he is already talking to a prospective appointee but declined to provide details.

In a previous press briefing, Duterte said Tourism Secretary Ramon Jimenez Jr. was “doing good.” It remains to be seen if the advertising and marketing guru would be retained.

For the chairmanship of the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority, Duterte said the recommendation of incoming transportation secretary Arthur Tugade would be “vital.”

Other unfilled top posts include those for the Commission on Higher Education, Housing and Urban Development Coordinating Council, Presidential Management Staff, National Anti-Poverty Commission, Presidential Legislative Liaison Office, Office of the Political Adviser, Presidential Legal Counsel, Climate Change Commission and the newly formed Department of Information and Communication Technology.

Duterte Cabinet

Outgoing Education Secretary Armin Luistro welcomed former national treasury chief Leonor Briones as his successor.

“Professor Briones will bring with her a wealth of experience in public finance and administration which would be beneficial to the Department of Education, the agency with the largest budget,” Luistro said in a statement.

He said education is one of Briones’ top advocacies and considers it a lifelong mission.

Briones was formally introduced as the next DepEd chief during Duterte’s press conference.

A professor emeritus at the University of the Philippines-National College of Public Administration and Governance, Briones is chairman of the Board of Trustees of Silliman University and chairman-designate of the Board of Regents of the Universidad de Manila.

She also serves as convenor of budget watchdog Social Watch Philippines. She headed the Bureau of Treasury during the administration of former president Joseph Estrada.

Luistro said he would meet with his successor this week to ensure a smooth transition and continuity of reforms at the agency.

For his part, Customs Commissioner Alberto Lina is willing to cooperate with former Philippine Marine captain Nicanor Faeldon, who will succeed him at the bureau.

Lina said he would offer advice about the operations at the Bureau of Customs (BOC).

“This is a 24-hour job. He should be ready physically and mentally to help the country,” he said, adding he does not know Faeldon personally.

“We will cooperate with him. We are open to extend our arms any time to help him. If our advice is needed, if he has questions, he can call us.”

But before he leaves the BOC on June 30, Lina is hoping to finish the implementing rules and regulations of the recently approved Customs Modernization and Tariff Act so his successor can implement it.

Faeldon is not the first military man to head the BOC. Former Air Force chief Ramon Farolan served as Customs chief from 1977 to 1986, and former Navy commander Guillermo Parayno Jr. from 1992 to 1998.

Incoming science and technology secretary Fortunato dela Peña learned of his appointment when he was asked to attend the press conference on Tuesday.

“I knew (that I was appointed to the post) when they started calling the names of the appointees,” Dela Peña, who retired as DOST undersecretary two years ago, told The STAR.

He said he got a call last week from Duterte’s executive assistant Bong Go, asking him to submit his curriculum vitae.

He got another call on Monday, telling him to go to Davao City immediately.

“I was in Laoag City last Monday. I had to cut short my trip,” he said.

Even up to Tuesday, Dela Peña said he was not officially told of his appointment.

Dela Peña has been a faculty member of the University of the Philippines-College of Engineering since 1973. He was chairman of its Department of Industrial Engineering from 1982 to 1988 and vice president for planning and development from 1993 to 1999.

The Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (Bayan) hailed the appointments of Mariano and Taguiwalo.

Bayan said Mariano and Taguiwalo are excellent choices for the posts, noting their experience in serving the marginalized and oppressed sectors of society.

“They can do a lot in terms of pushing for pro-people programs and reforms. The appointments from the Left are unprecedented and surpass any offers of positions by the previous post-EDSA regimes,” Bayan secretary-general Renato Reyes said.

Mariano was chairman of the Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas, Anakpawis party-list representative and chairman of Bayan.

Taguiwalo has been an activist since the Marcos dictatorship, a member of the women’s movement as well as a union leader at the University of the Philippines, where she was a professor.

The group also expressed optimism with the appointments of Briones at DepEd and Bello at the labor and employment department.

“We hope Bello will address the issue of labor contractualization and resolve outstanding labor issues and Briones to look into the problems besetting the K-12 program of the outgoing Aquino regime,” Reyes said.

Incoming agriculture secretary Emmanuel Piñol vowed to resign if the farming industry sees no improvement after a year under his leadership.

“Time is precious. There’s no point for me to stay if I don’t improve the growth of the agriculture sector one year after I arrive,” Piñol told The STAR.

“I will turn over my post to someone better if we remain stuck in the negative. That’s my promise,” he added.

Piñol said a major plan under his leadership is to go back to the basics of producing food for Filipinos.

“I will review the projects implemented by the DA. My commitment remains: to be able to provide food for the people,” he said.

Piñol said he is drafting his first memorandum as agriculture chief, which would mainly focus on his employees.

“Under my leadership, there would be no more grand celebrations, no unnecessary trainings or lakbay-aral. We would lessen the lavishness because I am here to simply work,” he said.

Piñol will meet with the transition team of Secretary Proceso Alcala on June 8 to 9 to discuss priority programs and review reforms. – With Janvic Mateo, Rainier Allan Ronda, Evelyn Macairan, Rhodina Villanueva, Artemio Dumlao, Louise Maureen Simeon