PRESIDENT Rodrigo Duterte dismissed as pure speculation reports that he would appoint former President and now Pampanga Representative Gloria Macapagal Arroyo as the next governor of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas.
Speaking to reporters at Malacañang, Duterte said that Arroyo wouldn't have wanted to have the BSP post anyway.
"No, I don’t think she would agree. Hindi ’yan tatanggapin ni Ma’am," the President said.
"Ma'am won't take that job. You would make her sit again in the office," he added.
Rumors within financial circles said that Arroyo, now Deputy Speaker of the lower House, is reportedly among the strongest contenders to be governor of the country's central bank.
BSP Governor Amando Tetangco Jr. who assumed the post in July 2005 will end his term in July. He previously said he hoped Duterte would consider two insiders: Deputy Governor Diwa Guinigundo and Deputy Governor Nestor Espenilla.
Duterte’s party, PDP-Laban, has also endorsed EastWest Bank President Antonio Moncupa to the post.
Duterte said that whoever he would pick as the next BSP chief would have to get the nod of the Congress leaders and Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez first.
Duterte said he would have to "listen to everybody including the Senate and the political leaders of the country [when choosing the next BSP chief]."
"And the appointee, whoever he is, must have an acceptance to all… Part of the call would be Dominguez’s,” Duterte added when asked if he is going to choose an insider.
Meanwhile, Duterte said that his running mate, losing vice presidential candidate and Senator Alan Peter Cayetano, would be better off staying in the Senate than have a Cabinet post.
Duterte earlier promised Cayetano that he would be named as the country’s next secretary of the Department of Foreign Affairs after the one-year appointment ban on defeated candidates lapses.
“We haven't talked about it. But you know, Senator Cayetano is a very brilliant man. He would be needed by the Senate. Don't belittle that. In the DFA, we can do with acting secretaries," Duterte said of Cayetano, whose Senate term will end 2019.
Duterte's Foreign Affairs secretary, Perfecto Yasay Jr., had to leave his post after his ad-interim appointment was rejected by the powerful Commission on Appointments due to questions about his citizenship.
Yasay was replaced by seasoned career diplomat, Enrique Manalo as acting secretary.