Full Cabinet meeting set on October 12 sans VP Robredo

MANILA, Philippines — President Rodrigo Duterte and his Cabinet will have an all-member meeting on Monday (October 12) at Malacañan Palace.
But Vice President Leni Robredo is not invited to the meeting and Malacañang has an explanation for that.
Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque said that the President wants a serious discussion with his Cabinet about the government’s plan for the full reopening of the country’s economy and matters on how to resolve the shortage of public transportation as the situation returns to normalcy despite the looming threat of coronavirus disease (COVID-19).
“Nagkaroon po kasi ng briefing si Secretary Dominguez at saka si Secretary Chua tungkol sa epekto ng pandemya sa ekonomiya at ipinakita nila na dahil sa pandemya ay humina ang ekonomiya na nagresulta sa mas maraming nagugutom, mas maraming bata ang malnourished, [Sec. Dominguez and Sec. Chua gave a briefing on the economic impact of the pandemic where they confirmed the weakening of the economy that resulted in more people suffering from hunger and more children becoming malnourished],” Roque explained.
“So ang kanilang solusyon ay buksan pa ang ating ekonomiya dahil kaya naman nating mabuhay na naririyan sa kabila ng COVID-19, [So their solution is to further open the economy seeing that we can survive even in the presence of COVID-19],” he added.
Roque clarified that the reason why Rodrebo isn’t invited is because she is not an official member of the Cabinet.
Although she has given her suggestions on how the government should respond to the current COVID-19 situation, Roque said, there is nothing new in her recommendations that the government could adopt.
“Saka sinasabi ko naman po na lahat ng suhestiyon niya pinakikinggn natin kaya lang wala pong bago. Kung meron siyang bagong suhestyon I am sure ikokonsidera po yan, [As I have said all her suggestions are being heard however, nothing is new. If she has suggestions that are new then, I’m sure, that will be considered],” Roque concluded. MNP (with reports from Rosalie Coz)