DESPITE the reported invitation from the US government to visit Washington, President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. has no plan yet to fly out of the country for state visits anytime soon as he continues to build up his Cabinet, according to a Palace official.
In her first press conference last Monday as Press secretary, Beatrix “Trixie” Cruz-Angeles said Marcos is still busy filling up crucial vacancies in his Cabinet.
Among these are the secretaries for the Department of Health (DOH) and the Department of Energy (DOE), Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), and the Department of Science and Technology (DOST).
“The President has not announced any state visits as of now. He is busy building up the Cabinet, so we will have to wait for an announcement if there is indeed such a thing,” Angeles said.
She also noted they are still waiting for Malacañang to formally recognize the invitation from US President Joseph “Joe” Biden Jr.
“We wait for the formal acknowledgement and then the President will indicate whether or not he is accepting the invitation,” Angeles said.
Marcos is still in the process of evaluating candidates, who will be leading DOH and DOE, Angeles said.
“These are undergoing extensive reviews. We are not saying they are having difficulty [in picking the candidates], but because these are important positions they should go through the eye of the needle [in their selection],” she said.
Cabinet activity
Angeles said other members of the Cabinet are currently conducting reviews of their respective department to determine if they need to seek supplemental funding from Congress this year.
“That will depend on each of the departments. The priorities will depend on which departments are implementing them. So, we will have to wait for that,” Angeles said.
She noted most departments have submitted their proposed budget for next year to the Department of Budget and Management (DBM).
“In general, for the departments, their budgets were already drawn up in accordance with the previous administration,” Angeles said.
“So we don’t have much input there. We will wait for the next budget, where the present administration could make its inputs,” she added.
Marcos has yet to conduct his first Cabinet meeting since his inauguration on June 30.
Image credits: AP/Aaron Favila