Not so ‘little President’

The Executive Secretary is often called the “little President” because of the immense powers of whoever holds the position. While all Cabinet members are considered as “alter egos” of the President, the Executive Secretary is regarded as the “primus inter pares,” or first among equals of all Cabinet officials. Having covered Malacañang Palace spanning four former presidents from 1986 to 2004, this led me to affirm an observation that an Executive Secretary comes out powerful whenever the Presidency turns weak.

In fact, a number of powerful Executive Secretaries whom I covered at Malacañang as a young reporter were either former lawmakers or joined Congress later on. From my own reckoning, among officials who came out as strong Executive Secretaries include the likes of the late Joker Arroyo, Franklin Drilon, Ronaldo Zamora, Alberto Romulo, and Eduardo Ermita.

Among the duties of Executive Secretary are implementing presidential directives, orders and decisions; supervise various agencies under the Office of the President (OP), and appoint officials whose appointments do not need the President’s approval. The Executive Secretary also has the power to sign papers such as Executive Orders “By Authority of the President,” and decide on matters “for and on behalf of the President” if they don’t require the Chief Executive’s personal attention.

Experience is a major consideration in appointing the “little President.” The Executive Secretary needs to hit the ground running, with barely any time to learn how to navigate the labyrinthine maze of the bureaucracy. Owing to the demands of the job, past Presidents picked Executive Secretaries who had proven their mettle through the various positions in government and in private sector they have handled over the years.

The late Sen. Arroyo held the record as the human rights lawyer who handled the most number of cases between 1972 and 1986 before becoming then-President Corazon Aquino’s first Executive Secretary in 1986. Drilon who first served as Labor Secretary for three years and Justice Secretary for one year before Mrs. Aquino named him Executive Secretary in 1991.

For Senate majority leader Romulo, he first served as Mrs. Aquino’s Budget Secretary and in between became the Finance Secretary of former president Gloria Macapagal Arroyo. Subsequently, Mrs. Arroyo named Romulo as Executive Secretary from 2001-2004 during the first half of her nine years of administration.

Zamora first worked under the Marcos and Aquino administrations prior to becoming Congressman of San Juan City. He later became the first Executive Secretary from 1998 to 2000 of President Joseph Estrada.

But the longest serving Executive Secretaries were appointed in the past three administrations: Ermita, Paquito Ochoa and Salvador Medialdea held the post for six years under presidents Arroyo, Benigno Aquino III and Rodrigo Duterte, respectively. Both Ochoa and Medialdea were lawyers while Ermita was a three-term congressman from Batangas who previously served Defense Secretary of Mrs. Arroyo.

But none of them became bigger than the President.

Not to demean his qualifications, the resume of designated Executive Secretary Victor Rodriguez comes up woefully short compared to his illustrious predecessors. Rodriguez was among the first Cabinet nominees named by President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. following the latter’s victory during the May 9, 2022 elections.

Rodriguez was barangay captain of Sacred Heart in Quezon City for 10 years before becoming special assistant to the chief of the Business Permits and Licensing Office in 2002 under then-Quezon City Mayor Feliciano Belmonte Jr. He later became the officer-in-charge of the city’s Community Relations Office.

The profile of Rodriguez rose when he became one of the lawyers cum spokesperson of ex-Sen. Marcos. This was after the young Marcos ran in the May 2016 elections for Vice President but lost to then Camarines Sur Rep. Leni Robredo. While Marcos contested the victory of Robredo before the Presidential Electoral Tribunal (PET), Rodriguez lost the Marcos protest to much brilliant election lawyer Romulo Macalintal.

While the PET case was later ruled and upheld in favor of Vice President Robredo, Rodriguez went on to remain as official spokesman and chief of staff of then presidential bet Marcos in the run up to the May 2022 elections. Naturally, he earned the trust and confidence of President Marcos to become his so-called “little President.”

Invoking “By Authority of the President,” Rodriguez issued Memorandum Circular No.1 “Declaring vacant certain positions in the Departments, offices, agencies, bureaus in the Executive Department” effective June 30 this year. That started the troubles for Rodriguez. Recent blunders on appointment of one after the other of certain individuals named by the Chief Executive, the questionable ones pointed to the direction of Rodriguez as Executive Secretary.

The appointment of Archipelago Philippines Ferries-FastCat owner Christopher Pastrana as Philippine Ports Authority General Manager, for one, has been widely frowned on due to obvious conflict of interest and his company’s supposed P132-million debt to the Department of Transportation. So far, Pastrana’s appointment remains in limbo after Transportation Secretary Jaime Bautista instead designated a long-serving ports manager to become PPA’s officer-in-charge GM until further notice.

Last Friday, Rodriguez supposedly resigned, claiming he quit due to alleged pressure within the “inner circle” in the Marcos administration. Emerging to Malacañang reporters several hours after unconfirmed reports suddenly spread like wildfire, he dismissed the reports as coming from “Marites,” or playful take on rumor peddlers.

“As you know we are being followed by and hounded by fake news as early as the campaign. I think it will continue that way for as long as he’s the President,” he quipped.

For all his talk about being close to President Marcos, one would think Rodriguez wants nothing more than the administration to succeed.

It seemed the not so “little President” just didn’t know the correct answer.