‘Our only concern is that EO No. 1 broadens the powers of the Executive Secretary so much that the order effectively makes the Little President increase in influence some more…’
RESIDENT Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. has moved swiftly to reorganize the government, at least the executive department, starting with his own front yard, the Office of the President (OP).
For starters, President Marcos abolished the Presidential Anti-Corruption Commission (PACC) and the Office of the Cabinet Secretary, under Executive Order No. 1 signed by Executive Secretary Vic Rodriguez. The PACC’s jurisdiction, powers and functions will be transferred to the Office of the Deputy Executive Secretary for Legal Affairs, who shall make recommendations on matters requiring its action, to the Executive Secretary for approval, adoption or modification by the President.
In the time of ex-President Duterte, the PACC headed by Chairman Greco Belgica was tasked to “directly assist the President in investigating and/or hearing administrative cases primarily involving graft and corruption against all presidential appointees.” It was in charge of lifestyle checks and would have made case buildup against corrupt officials for the Office of the Ombudsman to prosecute. What it did was to arrest small-time revenue officials at the airport and in far-flung local government units, and only looked the other way while the grandmother of all scams called Pharmally scandal was ongoing and being unraveled at the Senate.
Another thing that the PACC did was to make a list of allegedly corrupt members of the House of Representatives, which Duterte used in vilifying the lawmakers, whenever President Digong is attacked by the itch to mount the bully pulpit in a high grandstanding fashion. This large-scale accusation was not proven and nothing came of it, except to sully the reputation of some personalities who are unfriendly and have personal issues with PACC and the Presidential Legislative Liaison Office.
It is best that the Marcos administration “shall streamline official processes and procedures by reorganizing the Office of the President proper and the various attached agencies and offices by abolishing duplicated and overlapping official functions.”
Following this policy, clearly the Office of the Cabinet Secretary is redundant, and PBBM is correct in taking the frugal road, abolishing the office and putting the functions of the Cabinet Secretariat under the direct control and supervision of the Presidential
Management Staff.
EO No. 1 is not all catabolism, for it creates an Office of the Presidential Adviser on Military and Police Affairs, which would be under the administration of the Office of the Special Assistant to the President.
We are happy that the government will now operate under a lean and mean organization without the unwanted fat, and will save money in salaries and benefits to boot. Our only concern is that EO No. 1 broadens the powers of the Executive Secretary so much that the order effectively makes the Little President increase in influence some more, which is either good or bad depending on the character of the man or woman holding that office.
