Marcos accepted Rodriguez resignation: Palace

MANILA (3rd UPDATE)— President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.'s long-time lawyer and spokesperson Vic Rodriguez has resigned from his post as executive secretary, Malacañang confirmed on Saturday.

• PROFILE: Executive Secretary Vic Rodriguez

"We confirm reports that Atty. Vic Rodriguez has stepped down as Executive Secretary," Press Secretary Trixie Cruz-Angeles said.

In a Facebook post, Rodriguez said he will continue serving in the government as the Presidential Chief of Staff. He thanked Marcos for the opportunity to hold the "little president" post for nearly 3 months.

"I have asked permission to step down as Executive Secretary," he said.

"There is nothing more rewarding than answering the call to serve the country, a rare privilege not extended to all but was given to me by the President.

"The work of an Executive Secretary is a 24/7 job with myriad topics expected to be attended to every day. It demands a sense of urgency which essentially requires almost all of a public servant’s time to ensure that services are met and delivered," he added.

He said he also wanted to spend time with his family.

"Equally valuable, however, is to witness firsthand your young family grow and evolve into how every parent would wish them to become and they most need me too," the official said.

Malacañang confirmed that Marcos accepted the resignation of Rodriguez.

In line with this, Marcos approved Administrative Order No. 1 creating the Office of the Presidential Chief of Staff, a post that has been non-existent since 2008.

"Executive Secretary Victor Rodriguez on Saturday stepped down from his position as 'primus inter pares' after he got the permission from [the] President... to do so," said Cruz-Angeles.

She noted that Rodriguez will "immediately assume" his new post as presidential chief of staff.

The Palace official said while the Office of the Executive Secretary remains vacant for now, there are several names are being considered and currently being vetted.

Rodriguez resigned from the President's Cabinet weeks following the sugar order fiasco.

It was Rodriguez who "issued the order to create an importation plan," Cruz-Angeles said in a Palace briefing on Aug. 11. But the Palace defended Rodriguez and said he had nothing to do with the botched importation plan.

Based on documents obtained by the Manila Times, Rodriguez supposedly gave additional functions and authority to former Agriculture Undersecretary Leocadio Sebastian when he was appointed to the post.

Days before Marcos' first State of the Nation Address (SONA), Rodriguez denied he quit the Cabinet post following allegations of irregularities. Quoting an anonymous source, a report alleged that Rodriguez resigned due to pressure in the Marcos administration’s inner circle.

• What the probe into the sugar import mess aims to determine

Rodriguez has been with Marcos' camp since the senator-turned-chief executive ran for vice president in 2016, and when they lodged electoral protests against the victory of Vice President Leni Robredo back then.

The 48-year-old lawyer earned his law degree from the University of Santo Tomas, before he joined the Negotiation and Influence Program of the National University of Singapore (NUS).

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