PRESIDENT Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has abolished the Office of the Presidential Adviser on Military and Police Affairs (OPAMPA) as part of the ongoing downsizing of the bureaucracy to promote economy and efficiency.
The President, in signing Executive Order No. 89 on July 11, said “it is imperative to revisit the need for a separate office in charge of military and police affairs within the OP (Office of the President), consistent with the streamlining and rightsizing policy of the Administration.”
Under the EO, the Office of the Executive Secretary, Department of National Defense, National Security Council, Philippine National Police, National Police Commission, and other relevant agencies shall perform OPAMPA’s duties and functions subject to existing laws, rules, and regulations.
All records, documents, resources, office spaces, and other properties in the custody of or used by the OPAMPA shall also be forwarded to the Office of the Deputy Executive Secretary for Support Services and Auxiliaries.
The OPAMPA was created in 2022, through EO No. 1, under the administration of the Office of the Special Assistant to the President.
Before that, the Office of the Presidential Adviser on Military Affairs was initially created through Memorandum Order (MO) No. 40 (s. 1998) to provide military staff assistance within the OP, as well as to facilitate policy formulation and decision making on national security concerns and military affairs, while MO No. 75 (s. 1993), as amended by EO No. 138 (s. 2002), created the Office of the Presidential Consultant on Police Affairs – later renamed as the Office of the Presidential Adviser on Police Affairs- to expedite coordination in the handling of police matters and provide police staff assistance within OP.
Before the issuance of EO 89, the President had accepted the courtesy resignation of Presidential Adviser on Military and Police Affairs Roman Felix.
