Press Secretary Trixie Cruz-Angeles and Commission on Audit chairperson Jose Calida have both resigned from their posts just as President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr marked his 100th day in office, Malacañang officials have confirmed.
Angeles, who headed Malacañang’s press and communications office during her short-lived stint, said she is stepping down due to “certain medical conditions,” Deputy Executive Secretary Hubert Guevarra said.
Before her role as press secretary, Angeles was best known as a lawyer-turned-vlogger that was strongly supportive of former President Rodrigo Duterte’s administration and maintained a YouTube channel called Luminous by Trixie Cruz-Angeles & Ahmed Paglinawan.
Detractors unearthed old anti-Marcos tweets made by Angeles shortly after her appointment as press secretary was announced, but the pro-Duterte vlogger and radio commentator said at the time that she had simply “changed her mind” about the Marcoses.
Meanwhile, Jose Calida, who served as solicitor general during Duterte’s time in office and is known to be close friends with the latter, also stepped down from his post as audit chairman, Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin has confirmed.
Calida’s appointment sparked controversy as the Office of the Solicitor General (OSG) under his term was flagged by the audit commission for excessive honoraria and allowances worth PHP7.46 million (US$135,939.14) in 2017, as well as the high salaries for lawyers working for the OSG, which amounted to PHP3.312 million (US$60,352.60).
READ: Marcos names Duterte solicitor-general Jose Calida as Commission on Audits chair
The resignations of Angeles and Calida, whose political careers are heavily tied to the previous Duterte administration, follow the departure of former Executive Secretary Vic Rodriguez, who resigned in September.
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