ENDEAVOR
Changes in a President’s Cabinet create not just ripples but waves of concern and uncertainty. Yet, serving in the Cabinet provides a fulcrum for learning about governance and statecraft from a strategic vantage point of physical proximity to the President while seeing him in his office, or joining him in official functions such as bilateral or multilateral meetings with heads of state and government, Cabinet meetings, presidential overseas and local travel, and other events arising from the strenuous demands of public office.
The word secretary, a Middle English word, meaning “a person entrusted with a secret” implies that the office holder is held in esteem by the President, and deemed by the latter as trustworthy, an essential trait given the sensitive matters of state that are tackled by him and his Cabinet.
How do Presidents work with their Cabinet members?
President Cory Aquino called regular Cabinet meetings three times a month; one of those focused on regional development, as each Cabinet Secretary was tapped to be coordinating officer for Regional Development; another was a regular meeting of the NEDA Board. President Erap Estrada preferred to call Cabinet members to informal chats at the Guest House.
Behind the scenes, and away from the omnipresent reach of projected of social and mass media, the brunt of the President’s workload as Chief Executive is carried by two offices: the Office of the Executive Secretary and the Presidential Management Staff (PMS). I was fortunate to have worked concurrently in both under President Cory Aquino. There and then I realized that the unsung heroes of the administration are those who patiently render “completed staff work” that precedes final action by the President who signs and gives effect to laws of the land, executive orders and related issuances.
On closer analysis, 15 out of 24 Cabinet members of President Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr. (PBBM) have been serving with him from the start of his term in mid-2022 to the present — a creditable record of cohesion and stability. Nine have resigned, the latest of which was Transportation Secretary Jaime Bautista, who did so for health reasons, according to Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin, who occupies the position historically dubbed as Little President, as he is the only Cabinet member authorized to issue orders “by the President.” A former Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, he replaced lawyer Victor Rodriguez, now an opposition senatorial candidate, who headed PBBM’s campaign for the presidency. Former BCDA President Vivencio ‘Vince’ Dizon assumes the DOTr portfolio on Feb. 21.
From my service with Presidents Corazon Aquino, Joseph Ejercito Estrada, and Benigno ‘Noynoy’ Aquino III, I gained some insights and learned a few lessons on being a Cabinet member. I am truly grateful for the opportunity to have served with PNoy from the start to the end of his six-year term. Parenthetically, my former colleague in the Asian Institute of Management (AIM) faculty, Agrarian Reform Secretary Ernie Garilao, also served from the start to the end of the Ramos presidency.
PNoy made few changes in his Cabinet, as there were few resignations, so more than 80 percent of his Cabinet members served with him from the time he succeeded President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo up to the completion of his term at noon of June 30, 2016. This proved beneficial in terms of ensuring consistency in policy implementation and enhanced credibility from having established an exemplary performance track record. Of course, this is being written with the benefit of hindsight, said to be the clearest of all vision.
From the PNoy Cabinet, only NEDA Secretary Arsenio ‘Arsi’ Balisacan currently serves in the PBBM Cabinet. He served previously as the first Chair of the newly created Philippine Competition Commission. One of those who served with him at the PCC was Menardo Guevara, Senior Deputy Executive Secretary during President Duterte’s watch, and incumbent Solicitor General from the start of President Marcos’ term.
Deserving recognition are those who have served the longest with PBBM from the start of his administration: Secretaries Jose Crispin ‘Boying’ Remulla (DOJ); Bienvenido ‘Benny’ Laguesma (DOLE); Amenah Pangandaman (DBM); Conrado Estrella III (DAR); Christina Garcia-Frasco (DOT); Manuel Bonoan (DPWH); Secretary Ivan John Uy (DICT); Arsenio ‘Arsi’ Balisacan (NEDA); Menardo Guevara (OSG); Chief Presidential Legal Counsel Juan Ponce Enrile; and Special Assistant to the President Antonio Lagdameo, Jr.; Foreign Affairs Secretary Enrique Manalo; Secretary of Human Settlements Jose Rizalino Acuzar; DOE Secretary Raphael Lotilla; DENR Secretary Maria Antonia Yulo Loyzaga; DOST Secretary Renato Solidum; and Presidential Adviser for Legislative Affairs Mark Llandro Mendoza.
Notable Cabinet appointees in 2023 were National Security Adviser Eduardo Año, Presidential Adviser on Peace, Reconciliation and Unity Carlito Galvez, Jr., and Presidential Assistant on Maritime Affairs Andres Centino — who all served as Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) Chiefs of Staff under Presidents Duterte and Marcos, Jr., respectively. Unlike PNoy and PRRD who chose retired AFP generals as Defense Secretary, PBBM tapped Gilberto Teodoro, a civilian, who had served in the same post under President Macapagal-Arroyo. Indeed top management experience is a premium criterion in choosing those who serve in the Cabinet.
In January 2023, President Marcos appointed former Valenzuela district representative and mayor Rex Gatchalian as DSWD Secretary to replace Erwin Tulfo who resigned and opted to serve as a House party-list representative prior to his current senatorial bid. Also appointed on the same date as Officer-in-Charge of the Presidential Management Staff was Undersecretary Elaine Masukat who replaced Zenaida Ang Ping, one of the first PBBM Cabinet appointees.
The latest Cabinet appointee (October 2024) was DILG Secretary Jonvic Remulla, who gave up his post as Cavite Governor to replace Ben-Hur Abalos, now a senatorial candidate. Named a month ahead of him as Acting Presidential Communications Office Secretary was experienced broadcast journalist Cesar Chavez who was previously undersecretary for railway operations at DOTr. Appointed two months earlier was DTI Secretary Maria Cristina Aldeguer-Roque, who succeeded Alfredo Pascual.
Frederick Go was appointed in January 2024 to the newly created position of Special Assistant to the President for Investment and Economic Affairs that “provides general supervision to the Economic Development Group, a multi-agency taskforce involving economic concerns previously helmed by erstwhile Finance Secretary Benjamin Diokno. He continues to serve as member of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas Monetary Board after being replaced by former Senator and Representative Ralph Recto, who has also served as NEDA Secretary.
Comments may be sent to sonnycoloma@gmail.com