January 11, 2023
MANILA — At least nine officials of the Department of National Defense (DND) have tendered their courtesy resignation after Jose Faustino Jr. stepped down as the department’s officer-in-charge, its spokesperson Arsenio Andolong said on Tuesday.
Andolong also said that five undersecretaries and four assistant secretaries have tendered their courtesy resignations.
“I think so, oo, kasi yung [undersecretary] dati lima, pati sya (Faustino), tama, tapos may apat na [assistant secretary] na kasama,” Andolong told reporters in a message thread when asked if seven to nine DND officials have already resigned from their posts.
(I think so, yes, because five undersecretaries, apart from Faustino, and four assistant secretaries were also included.)
Andolong, however, said the courtesy resignations are normal and is a “procedural requirement.”
“Normal na yan, pagka dadating na ‘yung bagong [Secretary of National Defense] … its customary and part of procedure na magtetender talaga yung mga co-terminus officials na appointed ng presidente na mag-resign,” he explained.
(That is normal once the new Secretary of National Defense arrives. It’s customary and part of the procedure for co-terminus officials appointed by the president to resign.)
“Out of the procedural requirement magte-tender sila ng courtesy resignation tapos bahala na si Sec Charlie kung anong gagawin niya dun,” he also said.
(They will tender a courtesy resignation out of procedural requirement and it is now up to Secretary Charlie as to what he would do with it.)
It can be recalled that a mass resignations in the DND have circulated over the weekend.
This stemmed from an unverified memo from the Philippine National Police, which put the entire country under “full alert status” after the mass resignation in the DND. The PNP said they would investigate the origin of the memo.
However, a Philippine Daily Inquirer report, citing an intelligence source, said the PNP memo was authentic and had been traced to the originating unit.
Malacañang on Monday announced that Faustino stepped down as the senior undersecretary of the DND.
Presidential peace adviser Carlito Galvez Jr. has been appointed as the new defense chief.