Foreign Affairs Sec. Teodoro Locsin Jr. said Thursday some of his colleagues in President Rodrigo Duterte's Cabinet plan to run in the 2022 elections.
While "friends in Cabinet are running for Senate," the country's top diplomat said he declined similar offers so that he could leave office at the same time as Duterte.
Locsin did not name those who are gearing up for the 2022 Senate race. In the past, President Duterte has repeatedly touted his Cabinet as among the "best and the brightest" and has dismissed corruption allegations against his men.
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Locsin said he informed the President that he wanted to step down along with the chief executive in 2022.
"No greater honor than to walk away from it all with such a president," Locsin said.
Locsin took over leadership of the Department of Foreign Affairs in 2018. Prior to the role, he was the country's permanent representative to the United Nations.
