MANILA — Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque has yet to decide whether he will accept or reject the press secretary post being offered to him by President Rodrigo R. Duterte, Special Assistant to the President (SAP) Christopher “Bong” Go said Monday.
“Parehong hindi pa tinatangap at hindi niya pa pormal na idini-decline so antayin nalang po natin yung sagot niya mamaya after nila mag-usap ni Pangulo (He neither accepted or decline so let’s wait for his answer later after he has spoken to the President),” Go said over a phone interview with reporters.
The presidential top aide made this disclosure just hours after Roque went on leave of absence citing no specific reason.
Despite being on a leave, Go said Roque will still attend the scheduled Cabinet meeting later in the afternoon and personally speak to the President.
Go also clarified that the presidential spokesperson was not sulking despite being kept in the dark the past week.
On Wednesday, Roque denied that Duterte went to the hospital only to be contradicted by the President himself the following day. Duterte had a checkup at the Cardinal Santos Medical Center in San Juan City.
Roque was also apparently uninformed about Duterte’s unannounced trip to Hong Kong. He earlier told media that the President was in Davao City, where he usually spent weekends.
Earlier, Roque said he will announce his decision on Duterte’s suggestion for him to stay as presidential spokesperson instead of joining next year’s midterm elections.
Duterte, however, said he will offer Roque a new post, which he did not elaborate on.
“For me, personally, he (Roque) is still weighing his options,” Go said.
On Saturday, Communications Secretary Martin Andanar bared that Duterte offered Roque to be the next press secretary should the Presidential Communications Operations Office (PCOO) be reverted to the Office of the Press Secretary (OPS).
Earlier, Senate President Vicente “Tito” Sotto III raised the suggestion of reverting the PCOO to the OPS since the former was only created to “accommodate political friends of the previous administration.”
According to Sotto, Duterte has expressed support to his proposal. (Azer Parrocha/PNA)
