Two Metropolitan Manila Development Authority officials announced their resignation on Friday in preparation for their plan to seek elective posts in the May 2022 elections.
In a Zoom meeting with reporters, MMDA general manager Jose Arturo Garcia Jr. said he already submitted his resignation letter, and its effectivity will be on Oct. 4.
“Thank you for this meeting. I’m here to announce that I resign general manager of the MMDA, effective October 4, because I intend to run as the first lawmaker for the 3rd District of Rizal province, the San Mateo area,” he said.
Garcia said he is set to file his certificate of candidacy on Oct. 5. When asked who would be the next MMDA general manager, he said it is up to the decision of Malacanang.
In a press statement, MMDA spokesperson Assistant Secretary Pircelyn Pialago also announced her departure from the agency effective Oct. 1 to focus on her run for a party-list slot in the House of Representatives.
“I will run as a Representative for the Malasakit Movement Partylist. Under my banner, I will work for standard benefits of Barangay Representatives, Kagawads, Barangay Tanod Frontliners and Barangay Health Workers,” she said.
Pialago said she will also work for the creation of health care centers in remote and far-off areas, so that patients need not travel long distances to the cities and towns where health centers are usually situated.
“We will also work to give better hazard benefits for medical workers. It is also important to allot a bigger fund to the Regional Epidemiology and Surveillance Unit and not have it concentrated in the Epidemiology Bureau,” she said.
In February 2018, President Rodrigo Duterte appointed Garcia as MMDA officer-in-charge general manager, replacing Thomas Orbos, who was moved to the Transportation department as undersecretary.
Pialago started out in the Duterte administration as media relations officer of the Department of Interior and Local Government during the time of Secretary Mike Sueno.
She became MMDA spokesperson on Sept. 9, 2016 and was promoted to the rank of Assistant Secretary after almost two years.