First orders of the day

Upon assumption into office of newly installed President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. (PBBM), it took almost a week later for Malacanang officials to release to public the first series of executive fiats that were signed on day one of the administration. President Marcos signed Executive Orders (EO) Numbers 1 and 2 on June 30, on the same day he took his ceremonial oath taking at the steps of the National Museum in Manila.

In EO-1, the Chief Executive reorganized the Office of the President (OP), its immediate offices, several attached agencies and common staff support system. On the other hand, EO-2 reverted the government’s lead communication arm back to its old name Office of the Press Secretary (OPS). It abolished the Presidential Communications Operations Office (PCOO) and several of its attached agencies along with the Office of the Presidential Spokesperson.

PCOO Secretary Trixie Angeles succeeded where her immediate predecessor PCOO Secretary Martin Andanar failed to do. Andanar first worked for the return to the old OPS set-up during the first year of the administration of erstwhile president Rodrigo Duterte in 2016.

As he had promised in his inaugural address, PBBM started streamlining the government bureaucracy.

Taking off from the highest office of the land, the Chief Executive prioritized the reorganization right at the Office of the President. For the rest of the national government, Executive Secretary Victor Rodriguez started the heads rolling “By Authority of the President.” Implementing this, Rodriguez signed and issued Memorandum Circular (MC) No.1, “Declaring vacant certain positions in the Departments, offices, effective agencies, bureaus in the Executive Department” effective noontime of June 30.

Invoking the same authority, Rodriguez issued MO-1 directing Secretary Carlito Galvez Jr. to stay on his post at the Office of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace, Reconciliation and Unity (OPAPRU) “on a holdover capacity until Dec. 31, 2022, or until his replacement has been appointed, whichever comes first.”

Through the years, the government machinery has grown unwieldy and bloated by administration after administration. As of last inventory by the Civil Service Commission, the national government has more than 1.7 million personnel, half a million of whom are public school teachers all over the country. The next largest chunks of government personnel are in the military and police establishments.

“In order to achieve simplicity, economy and efficiency in the bureaucracy without effecting disruptions in internal management and general governance, the administration shall streamline official processes and procedures by reorganizing the Office of the President proper and the various attached agencies and offices, and by abolishing duplicated and overlapping official functions,” President Marcos cited in EO-1.

For starters, EO-1 axed quite a number of redundant offices at Malacanang in this first wave of streamlining of the bureaucracy under the week-old Marcos administration. The same order abolished the Presidential Anti-Corruption Commission (PACC) created by ex-president Duterte in 2017 through EO No. 43. The jurisdiction, powers and functions of the PACC were transferred back to the Office of the Deputy Executive Secretary for Legal Affairs from where it was carved out originally.

Also abolished by EO-1 is the Office of the Cabinet Secretary (CabSec) which was absorbed by the Presidential Management Staff (PMS), one of the attached offices under the OP. The CabSec was a post created during the time of the late president Corazon Aquino. Under EO No. 237 issued by Mrs.Aquino in 1987, the CabSec is the head of the Cabinet secretariat, which provides technical support to the official family. The CabSec, more or less, does the same functions of the PMS for the President and the Cabinet.

PBBM though kept the Special Assistant to the President (SAP) office which first saw its creation when ex-president Duterte named his long-time Davao City Hall aide, now Senator Christopher “Bong” Go. PBBM appointed his bosom buddy, former Congressman Anton Lagdameo as his own SAP. The SAP is just another name for the President’s chief of staff.

In EO-2, the supervision of the Radio Television Malacañang (RTVM) and the Philippine Information Agency (PIA) were also removed over from PCOO and placed under the PMS. However, this transfer was most odd. As far as it involves official engagements, the PMS is merely in charged of providing the information to the RTVM needed in preparing for all presidential activities, especially those open for media coverage. The PMS has no function or the expertise to supervise the media-related operations of the RTVM on presidential coverage. Not unless PBBM wants to micro-manage what can be released to both government and private media entities?

But why did it take almost a week long for the President’s immediate staff headed by Rodriguez to implement EOs 1 and 2? Like the first two EOs, Malacanang released to the public the copy of MO-1 more than a week later. It was received by the OPAPRU last July 8.

Is there already paper traffic, or bottleneck in the processing of official documents at Malacanang this early? Or can it be a case of glitches and hitches during the first 100 days in office of any new administration? No wonder, certain presidential appointees earlier announced are reportedly now in the process of being quietly withdrawn.

However, a number of them have already taken their oaths of office in the presence of their respective families with PBBM at Malacanang. So how such miscues could be resolved remain to be seen.

Whatever the reasons might be, the delayed release of information gives rise to suspicions and speculations when it should be none at all. If it was intended to manage the news, it is also not wise to unduly withhold the release of official documents.

These first orders of the day pertaining to good governance and removing red tape in the bureaucracy were timely. Intentional delay could backfire.