Need for stability

Cabinet secretaries serve at the pleasure of the President of the Republic.

While the Commission on Appointments is vested by the Constitution with the power to approve or disapprove appointments made by the President such as heads of the executive departments as part of the mechanism of checks and balances, once the appointment is confirmed by the CA, they can be removed and replaced with or without cause.

More than a year after the last presidential election, there is now talk about an impending Cabinet revamp involving specifically the leaderships of the Department of Finance, Department of Transportation and the Department of Trade and Industry.

The DOF is currently headed by Benjamin Diokno, who also served as governor of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) from 2019 to 2022, while the DoTr and DTI are led by former Philippine Airlines president Jaime Bautista and former University of the Philippines (UP) president Alfredo Pascual, respectively.

One year is too short a time for anybody to show and prove what he or she is capable of doing and accomplishing in government. But the 1987 Constitution, specifically Article IX (Sec. 6, Civil Service Commission) also provides that no candidate who has lost in any election shall, within one year after such election, be appointed to any office in the government or any government-owned or controlled corporation or in any of their subsidiaries.

It has been more than a year after the elections which were held on May 9, 2022. As early as last May, the President revealed that he would strengthen the Cabinet by adding more members during the beginning of the second year of his term and that he is considering appointing competent personalities who did not win in the elections that want to help.

Last week, an article came out about Cabinet economic cluster revamp. It said that Batangas Rep. Ralph Recto was to take the helm of the DOF, that Robinsons Land Corp. president Frederick Go was to assume the leadership of the DTI, while former Bases Conversion and Development Authority (BCDA) CEO Vince Dizon will head the DoTr.

What can I say? These people were already among those being considered for such posts as soon as President Marcos won the election. I was even surprised that the positions were not given to them.

We can’t help but wonder what effect these lingering whispers have on both the employees of the departments and their respective stakeholders. Whether true or not, these talks definitely create uncertainties and instabilities.

And as I said, one year is too short a time for anybody to prove his worth.

What will happen to the programs, projects, and policies laid out and being worked on by Diokno, Bautista and Pascual? If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. It will be a waste of time and other resources if what is already being implemented will be set aside just because “it ain’t mine.”

This is also the reason why our country can’t get out of the quagmire. Any program is good only for six years at best, which happens to be the term of the President. There is no continuity nor sustainability of good government programs and policies. Whatever gains our economy has realized were achieved in spite of government.

According to a report from bti-project.org, “the democratic and economic transformation of the Philippines is severely hindered by the oligarchic structures or both the political and economic systems. The long-lasting and entrenched dominance of various family clans in both spheres prevent the reforms which are necessary for the further deepening of democracy and a transformation to a more just market economy. In the long term, significant political and economic transformation can only happen if the political decision-makers dare to challenge the political and economic dominance of the family clans.”

Are these changes being whispered around by people who have the country’s best interest at heart? The President should once and for all assure everyone of a stable leadership because business and the economy thrive on stability.

I’m not saying that the names being floated around are not credible and efficient personalities. They are.

But what is more important at this point is for the Marcos administration to project an image of decisive leadership, a firm resolve to finish what it has started, and a good team that will back him up from start to finish.

For comments, e-mail at [email protected]