MANILA, Philippines – Amidst the call from Malacañang for its cabinet secretaries to submit their courtesy resignations on Thursday, with the aim of “recalibrating” the administration, Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) Secretary Enrique Manalo will still be attending the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) meetings in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia next week.
In a message to DZRH, a senior DFA official confirmed that Manalo will be attending the ASEAN meetings and will proceed to assist President Ferdinand Marcos, Jr. during the summit.
The ministerial meeting will take place on May 25, while the summit in Kuala Lumpur, where President Marcos and other Southeast Asian leaders are set to attend and meet to discuss key regional security issues and challenges, will be held on May 26 to 27.
In a press briefing in Malacañang, Palace Press Officer Claire Castro echoed Marcos’ call for the courtesy resignation of all Cabinet secretaries, including head of agencies with cabinet rank, other heads of agencies and presidential advisers and assistants.
According to the Palace, the aim of the directive is for the “recalibration” of Marcos’ administration, following last week’s the midterm elections.
In the same briefing, Castro assured the public that pending and existing projects “will not be affected” by the administration’s reset.
Manalo was appointed by Marcos as DFA Secretary on 01 July 2022, replacing Teodoro Locsin, Jr.
Previously, Manalo also served as Philippine Permanent Representative to the United Nations in New York under former President Rodrigo Duterte from 2020 to June 30, 2022.
