‘Marcos should ensure no duplication of Rodriguez’s new functions’

MANILA, Philippines — President Marcos must ensure that presidential chief of staff Vic Rodriguez does not duplicate the functions or encroach on the new executive secretary’s authority, to avoid confusion and division in the highest levels of his administration, former presidential spokesman and political consultant Edwin Lacierda said last Monday.

“So one has to be very, very clear that there is no duplication. Otherwise, that’s going to be chaotic. You don’t want conflict to be happening in the highest levels of the government,” Lacierda, who served as spokesman for the late former president Benigno Aquino III, told “The Chiefs” on Cignal TV’s One News.

Last Saturday, Rodriguez announced his resignation as executive secretary on the heels of the controversy over the Sugar Regulatory Administration’s order to import 300,000 metric tons of sugar, but he said he would continue serving Marcos and the country as presidential chief of staff.

Malacañang has yet to release a copy of Administrative Order (AO) 1, which Press Secretary Trixie Cruz-Angeles said was signed by Marcos over the weekend, designating Rodriguez as presidential chief of staff.

Lacierda recalled preventing such a chaotic situation during Aquino’s term, when the latter suggested appointing Mar Roxas as his chief of staff after the yearlong ban on the appointment for losing candidates to government posts ended.

Roxas, who was Aquino’s runningmate, lost to Jejomar Binay in the vice presidential race in 2010.

“We never reached the point where we were able to delineate the roles, but the mere fact that you have a chief of staff and an executive secretary might cause some problems, and you have to consult what duties are not found in the Office of the Executive Secretary to make sure that there is no duplication of duties,” Lacierda said.

“Assuming that the (issue) on the duties (of the chief of staff) is not fixed, there will be two camps, and then the Cabinet secretaries will just go to whoever (they’re) close to and then you have a lot of voices, a lot of whispering within these two camps,” he added.

Angeles earlier said the draft special order (SO), which sought additional functions to what was already provided under AO 1, was rejected by the President based on the recommendation of his chief presidential legal counsel Juan Ponce Enrile.

Angeles added that the chief of staff’s primary function, according to AO 1, would be “supervising and ensuring the efficient and responsive day-to-day operational support to the presidency to enable the President to focus on strategic national concerns.”

A copy of the supposed draft SO, which circulated on social media, supposedly seeks to grant “additional authority to presidential chief of staff Victor D. Rodriguez.”

Enrile reportedly turned down the alleged draft SO from Rodriguez granting much power to the presidential chief of staff.

Based on Enrile’s alleged memorandum to the President, which also circulated online, the draft SO nearly retains all the powers and functions of the executive secretary or “little president.”

Lacierda agreed with observations that Rodriguez’ appointment as chief of staff was an “obvious” political accommodation.

“The President values also the number of months or years of work that Mr. Rodriguez provided him, so he doesn’t want to let go entirely. However, you have to be sure that you’re not going to cause more problems,” Lacierda said.

Rodriguez served as Marcos’ spokesman before the latter’s election as president in May.