Duterte to appoint Cusi energy secretary; Calida to be Sol-Gen

Incoming president Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte will appoint former airport manager Alfonso Cusi secretary of energy and former acting justice secretary Jose Calida solicitor general, Duterte's spokesman said on Friday.

Lawyer Salvador Panelo confirmed Cusi and Calida's pending appointments, GMA News' Ian Cruz reported.

Cusi was a former general manager of the Manila International Airport Authority and a former director general of the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines.

He is also a vice chairman of the incoming ruling party PDP-Laban.

Calida, on the other hand, was a former undersecretary at the Department of Justice.

Calida in a television interview said that the appointment came by surprise but added that he was prepared to follow Duterte's orders.

"If I become the Solicitor General, I will take an oath. And that is to defend the Constitution and to enforce the rule of law regardless of who the appointing authority is," Calida said. —Trisha Macas/NB, GMA News