Monday, April 25, 2011
MALACANANG on Monday denied that President Benigno Aquino III offered Senator Panfilo Lacson to head the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG).
Deputy presidential spokesperson Abigail Valte said she heard nothing about replacing Local Government Secretary Jesse Robredo.
"I'm not aware of any discussions as to that...I don't see that. As far as I'm aware, Secretary Robredo is still in the DILG," she said.
Lacson said no offer was made and that he and the President only discussed "in passing" who could serve as the next chief of the Philippine National Police. He added he did not make any recommendations because he was not asked to.
He later said he is open to joining the Aquino Cabinet when his third and final term as senator ends in 2013.
"I'm one person who will not shy away from responsibility," he said.
However, the senator said that Robredo has been "trying his best to perform his job to the best of his ability" and should stay as DILG chief.
The President earlier expressed doubt on whether the DILG chief could handle the Philippine National Police.
Robredo heads the DILG in an acting capacity and Aquino has said that he plans to move Robredo to another agency that will focus on informal settlers.
In close to a year at the DILG, he has been criticized for allegedly mishandling a bus hostage crisis in Quirino Grandstand that left tourists and the hostage taker dead. He later said that he felt "out of the loop" during the crisis.
He was also accused of being a supporter of jueteng, which he later denied at a Senate investigation.
Valte said President Aquino has not mentioned any new Cabinet appointments even as the ban on appointing losing candidates within a year of elections ends in May.