House Speaker Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo听on Friday听defended President Rodrigo Duterte鈥檚 鈥渞ecycling鈥� of officials and appointing of military men in the government, saying the Chief Executive knows what he is doing.
On Thursday, Duterte announced that Bureau of Customs (BOC) Chief Isidro Lape帽a will now be Director General of听the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (Tesda),听while Maritime Industry Authority (Marina) administrator Rey Leonardo Guerrero will lead the embattled BOC.
READ:听Lape帽a out of Customs but named Tesda chief with Cabinet rank
This came after the Customs faced another massive entry of shabu, which Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency Chief Aaron Aquino now estimated at P11 billion from its initial assessment of P6.8 billion.
READ:听PDEA chief now says magnetic lifters contained P11B 鈥榮habu鈥�听|
Lape帽a not convinced smuggled 鈥榮habu鈥� costs P11B
鈥淟et me just say that I鈥檝e been president and I know more or less听that听the President has to consider so many things when he makes his decision so I鈥檓 not going to be a part of the peanut gallery making comments on his actions,鈥� she said in an interview during her听inspection of her retaining wall project in Sasmuan, Pampanga.
The former President added: 鈥淎s I鈥檝e said I鈥檓 not going to make any comments because the President knows what he鈥檚 doing.鈥�
The Pampanga congresswoman also agreed that there is an advantage in appointing military men in government.
鈥淭hey are literally good soldiers that鈥檚 why,鈥� she said.
But opposition lawmakers criticized Duterte鈥檚听move to transfer Lape帽a to Tesda.
READ:听Party-list congressmen slam Lape帽a transfer to Tesda
ACT-Teachers Rep. Antonio Tinio accused Duterte of 鈥渞ecycling鈥� Lape帽a to 鈥減ut an end to the further investigation into the smuggling of Php 11 billion worth of shabu and insulate the latter from possible charges.鈥�
鈥淚t鈥檚 becoming clear that Duterte鈥檚 vaunted war on drugs is a scam meant to protect the drug smugglers at the cost of the lives of thousands of drug users,鈥� he added. /kga