PRESIDENT Marcos Jr. yesterday defended the appointment of former Philippine National Police (PNP) chief Camilo Cascolan as undersecretary of the Department of Health and film director Paul Soriano as presidential adviser for creative communications.
He said Cascolan does not need to be a physician or have a medical background to conduct an “administrative audit” or review DOH functions.
He said Cascolan’s main work will involve “special concerns,” and his function is part of his administration’s goal of introducing structural changes and rightsizing the bureaucracy.
“Of course, he’s not a doctor and it’s not health issues that he has to look at, that’s why he doesn’t have to be a doctor. He’s going to look at the function of the DOH. We talked about rightsizing. We talked about structural changes… We need somebody to examine what is, what has been going on,” he said at the sidelines of the National Information and Communications Technology Summit 2022 at the Manila Hotel.
A number of groups, specially from the health sector, are questioning Cascolan’s appointment to the DOH as he has no medical background.
On Soriano, Marcos said the film director will not be a part of his communications team.
He said Soriano’s appointment seems to have been “misunderstood.”
“He’s not there to be part of the PR machine. He’s there to find ways to promote the creative industry kasi doon siya galing eh (because that’s where he’s from),” Marcos said.
“Kasama iyan sa tourism. Pinagmamalaki natin. Ang gagaling kumanta ng Pilipino. Ang gagaling umarte. Ang gagaling gumawa ng sine… We have to project that to the rest of the world. ‘Yan ang trabaho ni Paul (That is part of tourism. We boast of it – the excellence of Filipino singers, their excellence in terms of acting, the excellence of doing movies… We have to project that to the rest of the world. That is Paul’s job),” he added.
Press Undersecretary Cheloy Garafil, meanwhile, said the President has appointed lawyer Jose Arturo “Jay Art” Tugade as acting general manager of the Manila International Airport Authority (MIAA).
Tugade is the son of former Transportation Secretary Arthur Tugade who served under the Duterte administration.
The younger Tugade replaces Cesar Chiong and will also serve as chief executive officer and member of the MIAA board of directors in.
