Marcos picks Erwin Tulfo to lead DSWD

President-elect Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. has picked broadcast journalist Erwin Tulfo to lead the Department of Social Welfare and Development.

This was announced by incoming Palace press secretary Trixie Cruz-Angeles at a press briefing on Monday afternoon.

Cruz-Angeles said Tulfo accepted the nomination together with others who were offered government posts in the Marcos administration.

In a statement, Tulfo expressed gratitude to Marcos for trusting him to lead the DSWD.

"Ang tanging maipapangako ko lamang ay sisikapin ko na matugunan ang mga pangangailangan ng ating mga kababayang mahirap at nangangailangan," Tulfo said in his Facebook post.

(My only promise is that I'll strive hard to provide for the needs of the poor sector.)

In 2019, Tulfo was criticized for making rants against DSWD Secretary Rolando Bautista after the latter supposedly failed to grant him an interview on his radio program.

Tulfo apologized, but said he stood by his criticism of Bautista.

The incident forced Interior Secretary Eduardo Año to direct the Philippine National Police (PNP) to recall the police escorts assigned to Tulfo and his brothers.

Another Tulfo brother, Raffy, was among the 12 individuals elected to the Senate in Eleksyon 2022.

Other appointees to the Marcos cabinet announced on Monday include Naida Angping for the Presidential Management Staff, Amenah Pangandaman for the Department of Budget and Management, and lawyer John Ivan Enrile Uy for the Department of Information and Communications Technology.

Other appointees include Naida Angping for Presidential Management Staff and Amenah Pangandaman for Department of Budget and Management.

— ????Anna Felicia (@annafelicia_) May 30, 2022

Uy is a former chairperson of the Commission on Information and Communication and Technology (CICT). At present, he serves as corporate secretary of the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PCCI) and a Humprey fellow of the University of Minnesota.

Angping, a former Manila congresswoman, also served as technical assistant of the Office of the Governor of Leyte province.

Pangandaman, on the other hand, is former assistant secretary of DBM and former chief of staff of the late Senate President Edgardo Angara.

Liloan Mayor Cristina Frasco, spokesperson of Vice President-elect Sara Duterte, was also chosen to lead the Department of Tourism. 

Earlier, it was announced that the incoming Vice President will also lead the Department of Education.

Business groups, meanwhile, reacted with optimism to Marcos's economic appointments, including current Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas Governor Benjamin Diokno to lead the Department of Finance; Monetary Board member Felipe Medalla to head the BSP; and President Benigno S. Aquino's socioeconomic planning chief Arsenio Balisacan to return as National Economic Development Authority (NEDA) secretary.

Vital programs

DSWD implements social welfare and development policies and programs and as such is one of the top 10 agencies that receives the biggest allocation in the national budget.

One of its programs, Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps), represents the national poverty reduction strategy of the government, which has since been enacted into law through Republic Act No. 11310 or “An Act institutionalizing Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps)”  which was signed on April 17, 2019.

4Ps, which was patterned after the conditional cash transfer scheme implemented in other developing countries, provides cash grants to beneficiaries provided that they comply  with the set of conditions required by the program.—AOL/BM, GMA News