Duterte names Leyco as DSWD OIC
President Duterte has named Undersecretary Emmanuel Leyco as the officer-in-charge (OIC) of the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) following the Commission on Appointment’s (CA’s) rejection of former Secretary Judy Taguiwalo’s ad-interim appointment on Wednesday.
Presidential spokesman Ernesto Abella said that Leyco has enough experience to handle the agency until such time the President appoints a new social welfare secretary.
“The Palace wishes to an-
nounce the designation of Mr. Emmanuel A. Leyco as the officer-in-charge of the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) effective immediately,” Abella said in a statement.
“Mr. Leyco is not new to the DSWD. He is currently the undersecretary for finance and administration. We wish him all the best,” he added.
Only recently, Leyco was in Malacañang to accept the donation of actor Robin Padilla worth 15 million intended for the “immediate psychosocial intervention for the children affected by the armed conflict in Marawi.”
The CA on Wednesday rejected the ad-interim appointment of Taguiwalo as DSWD secretary for the third and final time. Taguiwalo is the third appointee to be rejected by the CA — the first being former Foreign Affairs Secretary Perfecto Yasay and then Environment Secretary Gina Lopez. Leni wins Mocha’s poll On Thursday night, Presidential Communications Operations Office (PCOO) Assistant Secretary (Asec) Margaux “Mocha” Uson conducted a poll on Twitter, asking who should replace Taguiwalo as DSWD chief.
Of all the names listed in her poll, 82 percent of 12,166 voters voted for Vice President Leni Robredo to be the next DSWD chief.
Following Robredo are DSWD Assistant Secretary Loraine Badoy with six percent, and former lawmaker Monica Prieto-Teodoro with two percent.
Malacañang, however, said it would be difficult to appoint Robredo to the post, given that she has resigned from her previous post as chair of the Housing and Urban Development Coordinating Council (HUDCC) in December 2016.
Abella, during the Mindanao Hour press briefing Friday morning, said that despite Robredo’s overwhelming lead in the informal poll, the decision would still be up to the President.
“I’m sure the President has other ways of measuring a candidate’s capability aside from surveys. The President has a different set (of criteria),” Abella said.
“Perhaps, there might be conditionalities that may not be too favorable regarding that. I don’t know. It all depends on the President,” he added.
Palace thanks Taguiwalo
Meanwhile, Malacañang wished Taguiwalo the best and thanked her for her services.
“We wish Secretary Taguiwalo all the best in her future endeavors. She knows she will always have the President’s gratitude and friendship for the time, albeit brief, that they spent together in the service of our people,” Abella said.
The Palace official also reiterated that Duterte would not interfere in the matters of the Congress as the President respects the boundaries between the three branches of government.
“The President has repeatedly given full trust and support for Secretary Taguiwalo even when she sided with leftist groups opposing the President’s positions,” he said.
“In the end, however, the law requires that we abide by decisions of the Commission on Appointments on Presidential nominations,” he added.