Sen. Ronald dela Rosa said that the exclusion of the country’s past presidents in the National Security Council is a big loss for the government since their “wealth of experience” are valuable in crafting the country’s national security policies.
While it was the decision of President Marcos to remove the country’s former presidents from the NSC, dela Rosa said that their insights can help the government.
Dela Rosa made the remark after President Marcos issued Executive Order No. 81 which reorganized the NSC and removed the vice President and past presidents from the advisory body for plans and policies related to national security.
Aside from removing former presidents and the vice president, Marcos also stated in EO 81 that three deputy speakers to be designated by the speaker will be members of the NSC, replacing the deputy speakers for Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao under the last reorganization during the Arroyo administration in 2001.
He said reorganizing the NSC was “nothing new” since former Vice President Leni Robredo was also effectively excluded from the NSC during the time of President Rodrigo Duterte.
“It is a pity because the wealth of experience of former presidents could be converted into valuable inputs in crafting defense policies of the sitting president,” dela Rosa said.
Regarding the exclusion of Vice President Sara Duterte, dela Rosa said: “Maybe they find it uncomfortable convening the National Security Council with the vice president around, so they eased her out. That is their discretion. It is not provided in the Constitution that the vice president should be there at the NSC. They can do everything, the chief executive has the power to reorganize all the departments and offices under the executive branch.”
Dela Rosa said he needs to find out if there were instances when former presidents were removed from the NSC.
“I don’t know if former presidents were excluded from the NSC because when it comes to the security aspect, their inputs are valuable to the current president,” he added.