PRESIDENT Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. has selected Clarissa Castro, a graduate of the UST Faculty of Civil Law, as the new undersecretary of the Presidential Communications Office (PCO).
Castro, who took her oath before the president on Feb. 24, received a special designation as the Palace press officer for briefings with the news media to explain administration policies.
On the same day, broadcast journalist Jay Ruiz was sworn in as new PCO secretary, replacing Cesar Chavez, who resigned Feb. 20 saying he “had fallen short of what was expected of [him].”
In a press briefing, Castro clarified she would not be Marcos Jr.’s spokesperson.
“The President will be speaking for himself,” she said. “Ang mandato ko is to explain, expound [kung] ano man ang pronouncements, direktiba ng Palasyo and Pangulo.”
Castro immediately came swinging against ex-president Rodrigo Duterte, whom she described as an expert at creating intrigue and “planting evidence.”
She cited the trumped-up drug charges against former senator Leila de Lima during the Duterte regime.
“Siguro naman napatunayan na natin ‘yan sa panahon ni senator Leila de Lima so ano pa ba ang ating ie-expect sa dating Pangulong Duterte? Gumawa ng intriga, magplanta ng ebidensya,” she said.
Castro was asked for her reaction to Duterte’s claim that Marcos Jr. won’t likely relinquish power at the end of his term in 2028. The two camps have had a falling out since the success of the 2022 “Uniteam” tandem of Marcos Jr. and Duterte’s daughter Sara.
Since 2020, Castro has been providing “free legal advice on air” and criticizing numerous political figures on her YouTube channel, “Batas with Atty. Claire Castro,” which has almost 400,000 subscribers.
She obtained her bachelor’s degree in political science from the UST Faculty of Arts and Letters.
Castro has been an anchor for the DZXL segment “Usapang Batas” since 2022 and a commentator at “Asintado” of Abante Teletabloid from 2021 to 2022. She also had stints in DZMM’s “Usapang de Campanilla” and “Relos Reports with Atty. Kiko.”
She has a column in the tabloid newspaper Abante and was a television host for UNTV News and Rescue and ABS-CBN talk show “3 in 1.” She also worked as a trial lawyer under her own firm.
PCO is the lead communications arm of the government. Micah G. Pascua
