ENVIRONMENT and Natural Resources Secretary Roy Cimatu has stepped down from his post due to health reasons and did not give further details.
“We wish Secretary Cimatu good health as he transitions from his decades-long and stellar service in government to private life,” Presidential spokesperson Karlo Nograles said in a statement.
Nograles said Undersecretary Jim Sampulna will be the agency’s officer-in-charge.
President Rodrigo Duterte designated Cimatu as DENR in 2017, replacing the late Gina Lopez, who was rejected by the Commission on Appointments.
Cimatu served as chief of the Armed Forces of the Philippines in 2002 and was a a special envoy for OFW refugees.
Among the major projects under Cimatu’s term as DENR chief were the rehabilitation of the Boracay island and the Manila Bay as well as the lifting of nationwide ban on open-pit mining which was criticized by some groups.
