Bersamin on supposed exit from Cabinet: Not true 'til it happens

Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin on Sunday dispelled rumors that he will quit his post or will be replaced by President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.

In a message to reporters, Bersamin reacted to an online news report and denied talk that he is on the way out of the Cabinet.

“Not true until it actually happens. I don’t know how the speculation started,” the Executive Secretary said when asked about talk of a supposed reshuffle among Cabinet officials.

Speculation of Bersamin’s supposed exit from the President’s Cabinet coincided with the Iglesia ni Cristo’s three-day rally to call for accountability amid corruption in government projects.

Talk of a shakeup in Malacañang first circulated on Saturday in an online news report, with Bersamin supposedly to be replaced by Finance Secretary Ralph Recto.

In turn, Recto would be supposedly be replaced at the Department of Finance by Special Assistant to the President for Investment and Economic Affairs Frederick Go.

Last September, Bersamin was dragged in the ongoing probe on anomalous flood control projects.

This was after former Public Works Undersecretary Roberto Bernardo claimed that there was a 15% commitment to the Office of the Executive Secretary related to P2.85 billion worth of projects that would utilize unprogrammed funds in the national budget.

Bersamin denied allegations of corruption and stressed that the “imputation is not true,” adding that his office has “has no involvement in any way with budgetary allocations” for the Department of Public Works and Highways.

He underscored his “untarnished record as a long-serving public servant, first as a career judicial officer and now as the Executive Secretary.” — JMA, GMA Integrated News