After announcing Año's appointment, Duterte jokes about 'junta'

President Rodrigo Duterte on Wednesday joked that his "junta" is complete with the impending appointment of Armed Forces chief Gen. Eduardo Año to the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) once he retires from the military.

"May isang bakante pa, madagdagan ko pa ng isang military, kumpleto na 'yung junta natin," said Duterte, who previously quipped that he prefers appointing military men to government posts.

"Hindi na sila kailangan mag-coup d'état, nandiyan na kayo, kayo na. Ako, pagod na ako," he said.

Duterte announced Año's next assignment during a press conference at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport before his departure for Cambodia.

Año is set to retire in October. Before him, Duterte appointed former AFP chief Roy Cimatu as head of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources.

Other former military chiefs in the Duterte Cabinet are National Security Adviser Secretary Hermogenes Esperon and National Irrigation Administration head Ricardo Visaya.

Militant group Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (Bayan), meanwhile, said it finds Año's appointment to the DILG disturbing, noting his alleged human rights abuses as a military official.

The group also noted that Año was once linked to the disappearance of activist Jonas Burgos, son of the late press freedom fighter Jose Burgos. —KBK, GMA News