Cabinet reshuffling

EDITORIAL

President Rodrigo Duterte ordered drastic changes in the Office of the Cabinet Secretary by issuing Executive Order Number 67.

Signed on Oct. 31, the EO stripped off the Cabinet Secretary’s power over eight agencies and transferred them to other departments.

Under the new EO, the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) and the Cooperative Development Authority will now be under the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI);

The National Commission on Muslim Filipinos and the Philippine Commission on Women will now be under the supervision of the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG);

While the National Anti-Poverty Commission, the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples and the Presidential Commission on the Urban Poor will all be under the supervision of the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD).

The EO which takes immediate effect, aims to “avoid duplication of functions and enhance responsiveness” among government agencies particularly those under the Office of the President and to “strengthen the democratic and institutional framework of the executive department” towards the accomplishments of all government agenda.

The EO also reverted the Office of the Cabinet Secretary to its former name Cabinet Secretariat which “shall have the function of assisting the President in the establishments of agenda topics for Cabinet deliberations, or facilitate the discussion of Cabinet meetings.”

The Cabinet Secretariat still remains the head secretariat of the different Cabinet Cluster secretaries which means it “shall continue to participate in Cabinet Cluster meetings as well as in the National Economic and Development Authority Broad and committee meetings.”

Presidential Spokesperson and Chief Presidential Legal Counsel Salvador Panelo earlier announced that the President is eyeing Davao City First District Rep. Karlo Nograles to head the Cabinet Secretariat.

The President’s decision to revamp the Office of the Cabinet Secretary came after his trusted man for the position, former CabSec Leoncio Evasco resigned to seek election as governor of Bohol province