HINDI sisibakin ni Pangulong Rodrigo Duterte si Foreign Affairs Secretary Perfecto Jr. taliwas sa mga ‘tsismis’ na mawawala na siya gabinete.
“I would like to arrest a few rumors going around that Secretary Yasay of the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) is on his way out. I would like to assure the Secretary that he is in good company and there is no truth to the rumor that there is a plan for his ouster, far from it actually,” sabi ni Duterte sa isang video message kahapon.
“Sana matapos na iyang haka-haka,” dagdag ng Pangulo.
Nilinaw ng Pangulo na buo ang kompiyansa niya kay Yasay at ano man ang sabihin ng kalihim ay awtorisado niya.
“Yasay speaks for me. Everything that he says in public both national and international comes from my guidance. And he has my backing and full support. And I said, I place my entire trust in him to take care as being the spokesman for our foreign affairs,” dagdag niya.
Ayon sa Pangulo, personal niyang pinakiusapan si Yasay na magsilbi sa kanyang administrasyon dahil tiwala siya sa kakayahan at bilib siya sa katapatan.
“I would like the Philippines to know that I personally pleaded with Secretary Yasay to join the government because he us competent, honest, and he knows his business. He has a professorial job on the western side of the United States,” sabi ng Pangulo.
Matatandaan, si Yasay, bilang komisyoner ng Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), ang nagbulgar sa stock market manipulation ni noo’y Pangulong Joseph Estrada na nagbigay daan sa pagkakatalsik niya sa Palasyo hanggang mahatulan sa kasong plunder.
( ROSE NOVENARIO )