Marcos administers oath of 10 Cabinet officials

President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. administered Friday the oath of office to 10 of his ad interim appointees heading various government agencies.

In a ceremony at Malacañan Palace, the following Cabinet officials took their oath before the President:

• Executive Secretary Ralph Recto
• Justice Secretary Fredderick Vida
• Public Works Secretary Giovanni Lopez
• Labor Secretary Francis Tolentino
• Health Secretary Edwin Mercado
• Environment Secretary Juan Miguel Cuna
• Tourism Secretary Maria Bernardita Mathay
• Transportation Secretary Vince Dizon
• Budget Secretary Kim Robert De Leon
• Philippine Space Agency Director General Gay Jane Perez

Before administering their oath, Marcos complimented the group of Cabinet officials, calling them the “best team” that has gathered in Malacañang since the time of his late father, former president Ferdinand Marcos Sr.

“This is the best team ever assembled here since my father’s Cabinet,” the President said.

On Thursday, Marcos also administered the oath of office to Department of Finance Secretary Frederick Go.

In an interview, Recto explained that the oath-taking signifies that the Cabinet officials have received ad interim appointments from the President and are now set to face the powerful Commission on Appointments (CA).

“Itong oath-taking ngayon ay ibig sabihin lahat kami dito ngayon, ad interim appointments ng Pangulo. Dadaan kaming lahat sa Commission on Appointments. Nakapag-submit na tayo sa Commission on Appointments,” Recto said.

(This oath-taking today means that all of us here have received ad interim appointments from the President. We will all go through the Commission on Appointments. We have already submitted our appointments to the Commission on Appointments.)

The CA is mandated to approve or disapprove appointments made by the President of the Philippines, the confirmation of which is required under the 1987 Constitution.

The commission’s function “forms part of the very delicate mechanism of checks and balances established by the Constitution to ensure that the coordinate departments of the government will function in a way that will be most conducive to the public welfare,” based on its website. — RSJ/AOL, GMA News