MANILA, Philippines — Former Armed Forces chief Eduardo M. Año took over as officer-in-charge of the Department of Interior and Local Government from his predecessor, Catalino Cuy, who is the new Dangerous Drugs Board chairman.
Cuy was DILG OIC for nine of his 18 months as undersecretary at the agency.
In his speech at Tuesday’s turnover ceremony, Cuy thanked DILG officials and employees for their “love, support, and hard work” in fulfilling the mandate entrusted to them by President Rodrigo Duterte in the fight against illegal drugs, criminality, and corruption.
For his part, Año, who retired from the AFP last October, acknowledged “”I have ‘big shoes to fill’ as my predecessor has accomplished much during his tenure, but I am up to the task, knowing that I have the support of the entire DILG workforce in doing my job.”
“Ang pagsugpo sa mga pangunahing suliranin ng bansa ay nakaatang sa DILG. Hindi madali ang tatahakin nating landas kaya inaasahan ko ang suporta ng bawat isa para mapagtagumpayan natin ito (The eradication of the major problems of the country is entrusted to the DILG. We would not take the easy path, hence, I’m expecting the support of everyone in order to succeed),” he said.
Saying that the new year is a new beginning for the DILG, Año added he expects Team DILG to continue doing their best in their work and being of better service to the Filipino people, making the department a “bastion of excellence” in government service.
“Every single day is a blank page, an opportunity for us to write our stories well and be more productive in our work. We still have more than 350 days this year to serve our people well,” Año said.
He also announced that President Duterte had procured P1 billion worth of firefighting equipment for the Bureau of Fire and Protection.
