President Rodrigo Duterte appointed Cabinet Secretary Karlo Nograles as acting presidential spokesperson, replacing Harry Roque who filed his certificate of candidacy (COC) for senator in the 2022 elections on Monday.

Cabinet Secretary Karlo Nograles works as a lawyer and has been in service since November 2018 in the Duterte Administration. He was the co-chair and spokesperson of the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-EID). Nograles currently leads the government’s Inter-Agency Task Force on Zero Hunger, a government’s campaign to fight hunger.

“So kung maaari ikaw na lang sana ang acting [spokesperson] na muna until we find a [replacement]. I do not want to burden you with so much, alam ko ‘yung paperwork dadaan sayo eh”, Duterte told Nograles during his pre-recorded “Talk to the People” aired late Monday night.

In line with former congress representative Harry Roque’s decision to gun for a Senate seat, replacing Paolo Mario Martelino under the People’s Reform Party, Duterte pointed out that any public officials who filed their COC before the Commission on Elections (COMELEC) are automatically resigned from their government position. 

“Alam mo once you file a certificate of candidacy, automatic iyan – out ka sa gobyerno. No order or formal ritual is needed, except that when you file – at that moment you cease to be a government employee,” Duterte said.

Roque stepped down as presidential and IATF-EID spokesperson during his last press briefing before heading to the COMELEC office to file his COC on the final day of candidate substitution process, November 15.