Jay Ruiz on courtesy resignation of PCO appointees: Nothing personal

''Nothing personal.''

This was Presidential Communications Office Ad Interim Secretary Jay Ruiz's statement as regards the memorandum directing all presidential appointees in agencies, offices, and bureaus under the PCO to submit their unqualified courtesy resignations.

''Usually ganoon naman talaga considering all presidential appointees here di ba... para lang kumbaga siyempre free hand sa pagpili ng ating mga kasama... Mahirap din po kasi siyempre dapat pagkakatiwalaan mo kasi kung di mo kasama, di mo naman sila kakilala, of course, as secretary dapat dalhin mo rin 'yung sarili mong tao,'' Ruiz said in an ambush interview on Monday. 

(It's the usual process considering they are all presidential appointees here... so that we can have a free hand on who are we going to include in our team. It's hard because of course, you need to trust... as secretary you need to bring your own people.)

''Sa akin lang siyempre, walang personalan, marami po kasing tatamaan... maraming posibleng tamaan... siyempre aassess natin kung ano 'yung ginawa nila, ng bawat opisina, proper evaluation,'' Ruiz added. 

(For me, there's nothing personal, many would be affected by this but of course we will assess their performance, there will be a proper evaluation.) 

The PCO head mentioned that he has been receiving information about leaking of information, however, he did not elaborate. 

''Nangyayari kasi unang-una, maraming leakages, maraming intriga, maraming nagsisiraan... ayaw natin 'yan,'' Ruiz said. ''Dapat confidential lahat ng orders, lahat ng papeles, we treat them as confidential.'' 

(What's happening is that there were leakages, intrigues, a lot were destroying one another. We don't like that. All orders should be confidential, all documents should be treated as confidential.)

Ruiz said it could take two to three weeks to finish the assessment of the departments under PCO. 

It was Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin who issued the memorandum, saying this move was intended to allow the newly appointed PCO secretary a 'free hand' in carrying out his duties and implementing his policies.

According to the memorandum, all affected appointees must submit their resignations to the PCO secretary no later than February 28, 2025.

Ruiz took his oath as the new chief of the PCO last week. No other than President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. administered Ruiz’s oath of office.

Ruiz replaced Cesar Chavez, who resigned after saying that he had "fallen short of what was expected of him."—AOL, GMA Integrated News