MANILA, Philippines – Davao 1st District Representative Karlo Nograles has been chosen by President Rodrigo Duterte to be his Cabinet Secretary, Presidential Spokesman Salvador Panelo said on Monday, November 5.

Nograles had accepted Duterte’s offer to take the Cabinet post of his longtime friend and aide Leoncio Evasco Jr a few weeks ago, according to sources. Evasco resigned as Cabinet Secretary to run for Bohol governor.

Nograles is set to take his oath as Cabinet Secretary on Monday afternoon.

The lawmaker from Davao City, currently House appropriations committee chairperson, is serving his third and final term as congressman. He had unexpectedly dropped his bid for the Senate during the period for filing of candidacies for the 2019 elections.

Duterte’s eldest son Paolo Duterte is running for Nograles’ House seat in the 2019 elections.

Nograles’ appointment in an interesting turn of events because his father, former House Speaker Prospero Nograles, had engaged in bitter rivalry with Duterte in Davao City. When Duterte won the presidency in 2016, however, the two mended ties, with the Nograles clan supporting his presidential bid.

Duterte also likes to call the younger Nograles his “nephew.” He and Nograles are related by blood as Nograles’ mother, Rhodora Bendigo, is Duterte’s 3rd cousin.

Nograles will become a Cabinet Secretary with fewer powers than Evasco, after a Duterte executive order stripped the office of supervision over 8 agencies.

The EO also reverted the Office of the Cabinet Secretary to its old name, the Cabinet Secretariat. It now retains only its original functions – establishing the Cabinet meeting agenda, facilitating Cabinet meeting discussions, and heading the Cabinet cluster secretariat. – Rappler.com