Formation May 9, 2016 Outgoing President of the Philippines Benigno Aquino III | Headquarters Manila and Davao City President-elect of the Philippines Rodrigo Duterte | |
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Type Quasi-governmental-private Purpose Peaceful and organized transfer of power | ||
The presidential transition of Rodrigo Duterte started when then-Davao City mayor Rodrigo Duterte won the Philippine presidential election on May 9, 2016. Duterte topped the official count by the Congress of the Philippines on May 27, 2016, with 16,601,997 votes, 6.6 million more than his closest rival. The joint bicameral Congress proclaimed Duterte as the President-elect and Leni Robredo as the Vice President-elect on May 30, 2016.
Contents
- Dutertes transition committee
- Aquinos presidential committee
- Declined
- International reactions
- References
At the time the presidential transition team was organized, Duterte was leading by a significant margin at the unofficial count by the Commission on Elections (COMELEC) and the Parish Pastoral Council for Responsible Voting (PPCRV).
The transition lasted until the day of the President-elect's inauguration on June 30, 2016.
Duterte's transition committee
On May 10, 2016, the camp of presidential candidate Rodrigo Duterte announced that a transition committee had been created to handle the presidential transition of Duterte to the day of his formal inauguration as President. The committee would be composed of an overall transition committee and three sub-committees, namely a selection committee, a policy group committee and an inauguration committee. The transition team was finalized the next day and held their first meeting at the Marco Polo Hotel in Davao City.
On May 13, 2016, a transition team divided into six clusters was announced as commencing the process of selecting potential cabinet members. Duterte's spokesman, Peter Laviña, said that the division would hasten the process of receiving nominations of and suggestions for potential members of the Cabinet as well as sub-Cabinet positions and heads for the various agencies. Laviña stated that the criteria for selection include shared vision, integrity, competence, and ability and willingness to sacrifice. Christopher Go, another member of the transition team, quoted Duterte that the criteria for selection for the heads of the Armed Forces of the Philippines and the Philippine National Police will be based on merits, on seniority, and on loyalty to the government and the country.
More women are being planned for Duterte's cabinet. Duterte had appointed numerous women to leadership posts when he was mayor of Davao City.
Aquino's presidential committee
On May 12, 2016, the administration of President Benigno Aquino III has also created their own committee for the presidential transition of Rodrigo Duterte. The Presidential Transition Committee (PTC) is set to coordinate with Duterte's transition team and will be submitting reports to them. The Agency Focal Person of the transition body is Executive Secretary Paquito Ochoa, Jr..
Declined
Duterte said in a press conference on May 31, that he will not appoint a Cabinet position for Vice President Leni Robredo, saying that Robredo is from the "opposite side", and the appointment of Robredo as one of the members of his cabinet could further hurt his friendship and alliance with Senator Bongbong Marcos, Robredo's closest rival in the vice presidential election.
International reactions
In a press conference held in his hometown, Davao City, on May 31, 2016, President-elect Duterte answered a question regarding the slay of journalists by stating that it has been corrupt journalists who have become targets for assassination. He further stated that journalists are not exempted by assassins simply by virtue of their being journalists. He also said there was no excuse for journalists who engaged in corrupt activities and took bribes.
Duterte's statements became controversial after media groups expressed outrage towards the President-elect the following day. Killings of journalists in the past were cited, particularly those of 58 journalists killed by a political clan in Maguindanao in 2009, along with those of a recorded 176 journalists murdered since the corruption-plagued Martial Law era under Ferdinand Marcos, the total of which has marked the Philippines as one of the most dangerous countries in the world for journalists to work in. Furthermore, Duterte's controversial statement was made three days after another journalist was shot dead by two unidentified men in Manila.
As a result of the controversy and a consequent suggestion by an international journalists group to the Philippine media to boycott Duterte's press conferences, Duterte in turn stated that he will no longer grant interviews to journalists from the privately-owned media organizations until the end of his term in 2022, expressly to avoid queries that could elicit soundbite statements from him that would result in further controversy, with Duterte adding that he does not need the private media. However, this was only lasted for 2 months, after the now-President Duterte hold a press conference with journalists at the Malacañang Palace on August 1, 2016.