4 DOTC Usecs announce resignations

MANILA, Philippines – Four undersecretaries of the Department of Transportation and Communication (DOTC) today announced that they are also quitting their posts.

DOTC Undersecretaries Dante Velasco, Glicerio Sicat and Ruben Reinoso made the announcement in a press briefing. They said they are resigning to give the next DOTC chief a free hand in selecting his own people.

There are reports that losing vice presidential candidate, Mar Roxas, is being asked to take the DOTC position.

Roxas was supposedly entering Malacañang as presidential chief-of-staff.

The three DOTC officials said that Undersecretary Aristotle Batuhan will also resign. They said they will leave their posts on June 30, the same date of effectivity of Secretary Jose "Ping" De Jesus's resignation.

President Benigno Aquino III yesterday clarified that De Jesus's resignation had nothing to do with his performance at the DOTC. He denied that he was alluding to the secretary when he mentioned that he will meet with an "underperforming" Cabinet official.

"No, it's not true. It's not Ping," he said. "“The DOTC head is a position that requires my utmost trust. He has to be compulsive in trying to ferret out everything."

De Jesus is close to President Aquino. He served in the late President Corazon Aquino's administration in the 1980s.

President Aquino said that De Jesus returned to the government upon his request and there was an understanding that the DOTC chief had intended to stay for only one year.

“I was shy about asking him to stay for another year. The fact that he agreed to serve in my Cabinet was something that I should really be thankful for,” President Aquino said.

Ping: No rift with P-Noy

De Jesus said in a statement that his resignation does not imply that he is dissatisfied with the Aquino administration, saying it took him some time to evaluate the decision.

“My relationship with the Aquino family remains strong and durable as ever. My loyalty and friendship to the family cannot be shaken,” he said.

As he geared up to leave his post, he urged his successor to sustain the momentum at the DOTC as he vowed to submit a list of completed and ongoing projects under his watch.

“May my accomplishment at the DOT will serve as guide and platform to my successor,” he said.

He also appealed to the public to exercise fairness in issuing reactions on his resignation “so that no undue harm will be done on the people that we respect and the families we love.”