Duterte EO grants Evasco 2 more posts

MANILA, Philippines – President Duterte has given Cabinet Secretary Leoncio Evasco Jr. two more offices to supervise on top of the dozen other agencies under his office.

Duterte signed Executive Order 9 creating the Office of Participatory Governance (OPG) and the Strategic Action and Response Office (STAR) last Dec. 1.

Evasco, one of the persons credited for Duterte’s successful presidential bid, has been given supervisory powers over a dozen government agencies in the President’s first executive order. 

He was also named head of the Housing and Urban Development Coordinating Council (HUDCC) last Monday following the resignation of Vice President Leni Robredo as housing chief.

The OPG and STAR, which were intended to promote citizen participation in governance and to improve the delivery of services to the public, will be placed under the Office of the Cabinet Secretary (OCS).

“There is a need to enhance and strengthen the organizational capability of the OCS in order to effectively address and monitor the delivery of the identified targets of the government and to ensure the streamlining and re-engineering of the development thrusts of the administration,” the order read.

Aside from the HUDCC, Evasco is also supervising the operations of the Cooperative Development Authority, National Anti-Poverty Commission, National Commission on Indigenous Peoples, National Commission on Muslim Filipinos, National Youth Commission, Office of the President-Presidential Action Center, Philippine Commission on Women, Presidential Commission on the Urban Poor and the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority, as well the Philippine Coconut Authority and the National Food Authority (NFA), two agencies formerly under the agriculture department.

Duterte said OPG would “promote and ensure the direct participation of various stakeholders in the crafting and formulation of policies and programs to address concerns at the grassroots level.”

It will also initiate programs and projects that will facilitate citizen empowerment and participation governance at the national, regional and local levels.

The STAR office, meanwhile, will promote “timely action and response” to the concerns of the public.

“Its primary thrust is to strengthen the current Presidential Action Center system and coordinate with different agencies towards increasing timeliness and responsiveness of government services,” Duterte said in the order.

The order also renamed the Presidential Action Center as the Presidential Complaint Center and placed it under the direct control and supervision of the STAR office.