By Atty. Victor C. Avecilla — October 13, 2025
IT looks like another name is being floated for possible appointment as the next Secretary of Justice. That name is Claire Castro, Undersecretary at the Presidential Communications Office who also functions as the coarse and opinionated spokesman of the Office of the President.
Like the other contenders for the post, namely, former Commission on Audit Chairman and incumbent Philippine Competition Commission Chairman Michael Aguinaldo, and incumbent Batangas Representative Gerville Luistro, Castro is unfit to become the next Justice Secretary. To stress the point further, among the contenders, Castro is the most unsuited for the post.
The job of the spokesman the Office of the President is to inform the general public, through the media, about the important, newsworthy events concerning the President. The task includes explaining to the public any matters that need to be clarified regarding the official activities of the highest official in the land. Another task of the spokesman is to defend the President and his cabinet from any and all unfounded or unfair allegations and criticism.
As the mouthpiece of the President, the spokesman has to maintain a pleasant disposition during all press conferences, and should be painstakingly patient and tolerant when answering questions from the media. Primarily because the spokesman’s boss, the President, is a politician by nature and orientation, the spokesman should always maintain the appearance of an amiable liaison between Malacañang and the Filipino people or, at the very least, of one with a fairly pleasant disposition and countenance like that of a public official who must constantly woo the electorate, in whom, according to the Constitution, sovereignty resides. That way, those in the media who may not agree with the President’s acts and omissions will not be unnecessarily antagonized from accurately and objectively reporting the activities of the President.
While it is natural for the spokesman not to agree with critics of the administration, the ideal spokesman should be able to express himself in such a way that does not amount to scorn or antagonism toward adverse public opinion. In other words, the ideal spokesman can disagree with the media, without being disagreeable in the process.
Since her appointment as spokesman of Malacañang in February 2025, Castro has consistently conveyed to the press and the Filipino people her manifest dislike, hatred even, for any and all criticism hurled at the administration. Instead of simply defending the administration, Castro goes out of her way to throw back the accusations made against her boss, and in many instances, in a very derisive, almost discourteous manner.
Just eight months in office, Castro has polarized the relations between Malacañang and the media, almost as if she is always eager to antagonize and quarrel with just about anybody whom she suspects of disagreeing with her boss. During her incumbency as spokesman, Castro has become an abrasive bulldog defending her principal through combative statements, antagonistic remarks, political conjectures and, oftentimes, insulting tirades.
If Castro becomes Justice Secretary, the Department of Justice (DOJ) may end up as a Department of Persecution, with all its official acts founded on vengeance, intimidation, partisan political considerations, and the shameless censorship of legitimate free speech and press freedom. A Department of Persecution is the last thing President Marcos needs in his next Justice Secretary.
When he was the helmsman at the DOJ, Jesus Crispin Remulla efficiently carried out the functions of his office without antagonizing the press or needlessly polarizing the information passageway between Malacañang and the people. Remulla always studied his law, and he knew how to properly conduct himself as a Justice Secretary should. During his more than three years in office at the DOJ, Remulla succeeded in doing his job without creating any prolonged, incurable rancor with the critics of the administration. He is known for his delivery of justice, not the polarization of the government and the people.
During these trying times of public distrust for the government, the Marcos administration needs another Justice Secretary in the same mold as Remulla. Castro is a far cry from the Remulla standard.
Castro ought to take note of what happened to past palace spokesmen who used the office more as a vehicle to intimidate and antagonize, rather than to simply inform and explain. They all ended up in the proverbial vegetable patch, oblivious of their next destination and remembered only for their abrasive nature. ■
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KWEBA ni BAROK 
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