Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin announced on Friday that President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has accepted one of 52 courtesy resignations of cabinet members and transferred three others to new posts.

Bersamin added that his courtesy resignation was not accepted by Marcos. The President also retained five members of the economic team.

"The President decided to retain these five members of the economic team so that there will be no more problems in perception about where the country is going," Bersamin said in a press conference on Friday.

Bersamin said Environment and Natural Resources Secretary Toni Yulo Loyzaga will be 'taking a break' and will be replaced by Energy Secretary Raphael Lotilla. Energy Undersecretary Sharin Garin will take over from Lotilla as officer-in-charge,

Housing Secretary Jerry Acuzar will become Presidential Adviser for Pasig River Rehabilitation. He will be replaced by Jose Ramon Aliling, president and chief executive officer of Jose Aliling Construction Management Group.

Foreign Affairs Secretary Enrique Manalo will return to being Philippine Ambassador to the United Nations and Maria Theresa Lazaro will be the new foreign affairs secretary,

Bersamin said Trade and Industry Secretary Maria Cristina Roque, Finance Secretary Ralph Recto, Economy, Planning, and Development Secretary Arsenio Balisacan, Budget and Management Secretary Amena Pangandaman, and Presidential Adviser on Investment and Economic Affairs Secretary Frederick Go were retained.

When asked for the reason for Loyzaga’s removal, Bersamin said that it was not due to corruption.

“The evaluation showed that it was time to have her rest now. Maybe it’s called underperforming. Because if the President has expectations that you did not perform, the messaging is not going to be allowed,” Bersamin said.

Bersamin said that Acuzar was also not removed due to corruption but had likely under-delivered due to the high expectations he had set during the start of his term.

Acuzar was initially targeting to build at least six million housing units by 2028. But budget constraints forced him to reduce its targets to 3.2 million in the next three years.

''You can’t say that it’s underperformance, [it’s] under delivery. He placed such high expectations there when he accepted the job. But you know, he was very efficient in the private sector and the President expected that he could deliver. But I don’t know if he set the standard too high for himself,” Bersamin added.

Bersamin said that Marcos will continue to review the performance of the cabinet secretaries, with the next set of announcements set for next Wednesday. Yzabela Velez-White/DMS