MALACANANG said Saturday that President Rodrigo Duterte is not discounting the possibility of appointing new officials in government after the one year ban on losing candidates expired.
"The President is satisfied with the overall performance of his Cabinet unless he says otherwise," said Presidential spokesperson Ernesto Abella in a statement.
By middle of this year, Duterte, if he wishes to, could already appoint to government posts those who lost in the May elections last year.
Among those who could be available for appointive positions were Senator Alan Peter Cayetano, who was earlier promised by the President to become the secretary of the Department of Foreign Affairs and former Senator Ferdinand Marcos Jr., who was reportedly being eyed as secretary of the Department of Interior and Local Government. Both lost in the vice presidential polls.
"On the new appointments, we expect the President would have a deeper bench to choose from with the lapse of the appointment ban on losing candidates," Abella said.
"This, however, does not mean that he will be filling up Cabinet positions with new men and women. As the President himself said, his Cabinet line-up is filled, except for those positions whose heads are designated as officers-in-charge," he added.
Both the DFA and the DILG are being headed by acting secretaries. (SDR/VoxPop Philippines)