Malacañang: DOTC undersecretaries' resignation 'natural'

Malacañang sees the resignation of four Department of Transportation and Communication (DOTC) undersecretaries as a courtesy to the yet-unnamed replacement for Secretary Jose ‘Ping’ de Jesus. “Natural po iyon if they’re clearing desk for the next DOTC secretary… That’s normally a courtesy given to the new secretary para ilagay ang kaniyang mga tao," presidential spokesperson Edwin Lacierda said in a an interview Friday on radio dzBB. The resignations were to be expected but the undersecretaries will stay a little longer to orient the new DOTC head, the Palace official said. “Hindi naman kaagad magbibitiw ang mga iyan, siguro bibigyan ng kaunting pagkakataon ‘yung bagong DOTC secretary na i-orient kung ano ang ginagawa po doon," Lacierda said. Glicerio Sicat, one of the four who resigned, said the move was meant to give the new DOTC secretary a free hand in running the department. "When De Jesus took over last July, we had a hard time removing people we were not comfortable with. Personally, I decided to hand in my resignation effective June 30, the same day De Jesus is leaving," Sicat said. The three others who resigned were Undersecretaries Dante Velasco, Ruben Reynoso, and Aristotle Batuhan. DzBB's Sam Nielsen said De Jesus brought the four onboard the department when he took over on June 30, 2010. De Jesus resigned from his post Monday to return to the private sector. The resignation was confirmed only on Wednesday. — ELR/VS, GMA News