President Duterte has named Undersecretary Emmanuel Leyco as the officer-in-charge of the Department of Social Welfare and Development.
Leyco temporarily takes the place of Secretary Judy Taguiwalo whose appointment was rejected by the Commission on Appointments last Wednesday.
According to presidential spokesperson Ernesto Abella, Leyco has enough experience to handle the agency until such time Duterte appoints a new Social Welfare Secretary.
“The Palace wishes to announce the designation of Mr. Emmanuel A. Leyco as the Officer-in-Charge of the Department of Social Welfare and Development effective immediately,” Abella said.
“Mr. Leyco is not new to the DSWD. He is currently the Undersecretary for Finance and Administration. We wish him all the best,” he added.
Leyco was in Malacañang recently to accept the P5-million donation of actor Robin Padilla for the “immediate psychosocial intervention for the children affected by the armed conflict in Marawi.”
Taguiwalo is the third appointee of Duterte rejected by the CA. The first was Foreign Affairs Secretary Perfecto Yasay and the second was Environment and Natural Resources Secretary Gina Lopez.
Presidential Communications Operations Office Assistant Secretary Margaux “Mocha” Uson held a poll Thursday on Twitter asking who should replace Taguiwalo as DSWD chief.
The choices were Vice President Leni Robredo, DSWD Assistant Secretary Loraine Badoy, and former lawmaker Monica Prieto-Teodoro.
Majority voted for Robredo, followed by Badoy and Teodoro. (Argyll Cyrus B. Geducos)
