MANILA, Philippines - Former senator Panfilo Lacson will get a Cabinet rank but his position as rehabilitation czar will not have any conflict with the portfolio of Interior and Local Government Secretary Manuel Roxas II and other secretaries, President Aquino said yesterday.
According to Aquino, Lacson would deal with secretaries in performing his job as overseer of reconstruction efforts in areas devastated by Super Typhoon Yolanda last month. This means his rank should be equivalent to that of a presidential adviser.
Aquino said the job would not be as easy as coordinating among departments and agencies because the implementation of projects under the Yolanda rehabilitation and reconstruction plan would mean dealing with a lot of details.
Aquino added that they have yet to decide where Lacson would hold office.
Meanwhile, Presidential Communications Operations Office Secretary Herminio Coloma Jr. said over dzRB yesterday that the executive order designating Lacson as rehabilitation czar was being finalized and would be out soon.
Coloma reiterated that there should be no issue between Lacson and Roxas, who led relief efforts after Yolanda hit the Visayas along with Defense Secretary Voltaire Gazmin and Social Welfare Secretary Corazon Soliman.
While the government drew flak for its supposed slow response to the typhoon aftermath, there were also commentaries that it would not be easy to get things going from scratch considering the extent of the devastation.