Marcos leadership style more systematic, efficient – Palace

MANILA, Philippines — President Marcos is systematic and does more planning than his predecessor, Press Secretary Trixie Cruz-Angeles said yesterday, describing his leadership style in the first 100 days of his administration. 

“The President does very well,” said Angeles, noting that instead of focusing on his first 100 days in office, Marcos is paying attention to long-term, medium- and short-term solutions to problems of government.

“What we only see is that it took some time for people to realize his (leadership) style, which is deliberative, science-based and, you know, very professional,” she added.?

Angeles, who also held a position in the Palace in the early part of Rodrigo Duterte’s presidency, said: “We know that the previous administration was characterized by a lot of passion, but this President is characterized by a more systematic and efficient response.”

“He also likes to deal with institutions so the responses are institutional, hence he likes things that are planned – the organizations are well-planned; the activities are well-planned,” she said.

The press chief said the agencies are preparing their respective accomplishment reports during the first 100 days based on Marcos’ roadmap. 

“We follow his roadmap. So, what he has been doing basically has been getting all of these plans, all of these assessments and then moving forward,” she said, noting that the President provides quick assessment of their work and plans.

“He always keeps tabs on all of the Cabinet secretaries and he is aware of all our activities, even pending the formal presentation of our own particular roadmaps,” Angeles added. 

Last Thursday, the President discussed with the Private Sector Advisory Council the “quick wins” under the administration in its first 100 days.

These include the development of a vaccine procurement plan for new COVID-19 variants and monkeypox, the commissioning of a study on the feasibility of local vaccine manufacturing and a third-party review of the Philippine Health Insurance Corp.

Also included in the talks were the institutionalization of “ladderized” nurse categories with ascending skills sets; piloting tele-health in geographically isolated and disadvantaged areas; local government unit (LGU) public-private partnerships for capacity building and revisiting the regulatory requirements for private sector participation in universal health coverage.

Also mentioned were the establishment of LGU Performance-Driven Incentive Plan; commissioning of a study to review and fully digitalize the Food and Drug Administration and the improvement of awareness of the general public on generic medicines.