MANILA, Philippines - President Aquino’s aunt and former senator Tessie Aquino-Oreta is resigning as secretary of the Early Childhood Care and Development Council (ECCDC) next month.
“I have to quit because of my DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid),” Oreta told the weekly Kapihan sa Diamond Hotel media forum.
Oreta, sister of the President’s father, former senator Benigno Aquino Jr., said she will tender her resignation on June 30. But she will be retained as a consultant of ECCDC, she said.
She said her resignation is in compliance with the President’s policy against having relatives in his administration. Oreta was appointed secretary of the ECCDC in 2009 by former president and now Pampanga Rep. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.
Early last month, the President’s aunt Tingting Cojuangco also resigned as president of the Philippine Public Safety College (PPSC).
Cojuangco is the wife of businessman Jose “Peping” Cojuangco, brother of the late former President Corazon Aquino, mother of Aquino. She was appointed PPSC head in 2004 by Mrs. Arroyo.