MANILA (UPDATED) — Environment Secretary Roy Cimatu, who oversaw the cleanup of Manila Bay and Boracay island, has resigned from his post, Malacañang said on Friday.

Cimatu cited health reasons in the resignation letter that he submitted to President Rodrigo Duterte last Monday, according to Executive Secretary Salvador Medialdea. He did not elaborate.

Undersecretary Jim Sampulna was designated as officer-in-charge of the environment department, said Cabinet Secretary Karlo Nograles.

"We wish Secretary Cimatu good health as he transitions from his decades-long and stellar service in government to private life," he said in a statement.

Cimatu served as chief of staff of the military in 2002 and later as special envoy for OFW and refugees. He joined President Rodrigo Duterte's Cabinet in 2017.

Cimatu headed the 6-month rehabilitation of Boracay in 2018 and the cleanup of Manila Bay the next year, which includes a controversial beach made of crushed dolomite.

• Duterte on dolomite beach in Manila Bay: ‘It’s beautiful to the eyes’

Cimatu's latest official acts include lifting in December a nationwide ban on open-pit mining, which his predecessor, the late Gina Lopez, imposed in 2017.

• Philippines 'not fit' for open-pit mining: Gina Lopez

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