Glitz, glamor and grocery bills

EYES WIDE OPEN

- IRIS GONZALES

Coffee shop talk, boardrooms and mobile phones were abuzz over the past few days with all sorts of speculation on who would be removed and retained—and why. In the end, just like the midterm election itself, there was a surprise twist. While some changes were expected, some Cabinet members were unexpectedly retained, others were surprisingly booted out.

Here's what I heard: One Cabinet member was moved out of the department supposedly because that Cabinet official's paramour was throwing weight around. Another was removed not so much because of underperformance but because of intense lobbying from big businesses, including a powerful business-political clan. One of the members of this family is also part of the Marcos government and was retained.

On the other hand, another Cabinet official also had to leave after setting a big and unrealistic goal for their department. A member of the economic team was also surprisingly retained, despite earlier rumors to the contrary.

PR goals Following the revamp, Malacañang now wants members of the Cabinet to improve their PR blitz so that the people will know more about what they're doing, sources said. They were told to take the cue from this newly appointed secretary who came in before the post-election revamp and who seems to be all over the news.

For sure, President Marcos knows the people aren't happy with his leadership. He hopes that by implementing a Cabinet revamp, he can usher in new changes and win back the people's approval.