Hiccups turn to burps

One of the first memorandum circulars (MC) issued by Executive Secretary Victor Rodriguez was an order for all government agencies to comply with standards for complete staff work (CSW). In Memorandum Circular  No. 2 issued on June 30, Rodriguez stated: “In the exigency of the service, strict compliance with the strengthened standards of complete staff work as prescribed in Memorandum Circular (MC) No. 72 dated Nov. 15, 2019 is hereby mandated.”

The acronym “CSW” first became the official buzzword at Malacanang Palace during the term of the late president Fidel V. Ramos (FVR). When he passed away last July 31 at the age of 94 years old, all eulogy rendered during his wake talked about his workaholic style and his famed “CSW” notations in big, bold red ink marked at documents that failed his muster.

More than halfway through the first 100 days in office, Rodriguez should have instituted the “CSW” of all documents that get forwarded to President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. (PBBM). However, several failed “CSWs” have gotten through their gauntlet and how.

Rodriguez obviously is not living up to his own emphasis for CSW. Under his watch as the so-called “little president,” several documents, including the controversial July 15, 2022 memorandum issued to former Department of Agriculture undersecretary for operations Leocadio Sebastian became another obvious CSW failure for Rodriguez.

Acting concurrently as Department of Agriculture (DA) Secretary, PBBM delegated to Sebastian the day-to-day operations as his Chief of Staff at the Department. That memorandum issued by the Executive Secretary empowered Sebastian “to sign contracts,” among other official acts delegated to him by the President.

Invoking it, Sebastian approved the 300,000 metric tons of sugar import “for and in behalf of the President.” As the board chairman of the Sugar Regulatory Agency (SRA), an attached agency of the DA, the President aborted it. Subsequently, PBBM agreed to the import at half the amount only, or 150,000 metric tons of sugar for domestic use.

More curiously, several appointment papers of certain individuals have come out with varied forms and appearances from the Office of the President (OP). Thus, it has raised a lot of questions on how such official documents are being haphazardly handled and processed.

The inconsistencies in form and style of such vital document raise complicated questions.

Worse, certain appointees prematurely released copies of their own appointment papers even before the Malacañang Palace can make an official announcement.

This could be a double-edged sword for the presidential appointees concerned. The veracity of their supposed appointment papers could either be confirmed by the Palace, or denied later.

In media lingo, we call it “kuryente.” It is not exactly fake news because it has a semblance of truth. How can you doubt the appointment paper that bears the President’s signature and official seal of Malacanang to boot? If it bears the official Malacanang hologram and the iconic figure of the Palace with a bar code below it, the document is genuine.

Not unless such premature release of the appointment document could be part of a larger scheme of a trial balloon? If there would be a violent reaction against the appointee, a lot of elbowroom is given to the Palace for the withdrawal of appointment to that individual.

There are two principal offices that sift through and filter all presidential documents, communication and other official papers before all are forwarded to the desk of the President. These are, namely, the Office of the Executive Secretary (OES) and the Presidential Management Staff (PMS). Both the OES and the PMS directly work under the OP and this is why their respective offices are located at the Palace.

The PMS does the vetting of the nominees and job applicants. Once these nominees and applicants pass the PMS scrutiny, it goes up to the OES for one final pass.

Once the line-by-line sifting and filtering of all these documents are done and over with, these papers go to the President for his final read. After all, the Chief Executive has the final say.

This is where the crucial roles of Rodriguez and PMS Secretary Ma.Zenaida Benedicto-Angping come in protecting the President from documents that did not obviously go through “CSW” from the originating government agency or office.

Cases in point: The one-page document for the appointment of seven Undersecretaries and Assistant Secretaries to the Department of National Defense had a stamped date of July 1, 2022. This was rather unusual for an appointment document. A stamped date also appears on the appointment papers as “acting” Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO) General Manager Melquiades Aypa Robles, and PCSO “acting” board member Genaro Sanchez Cabral.

Even the letterheads of appointment documents signed by Rodriguez look different from one another. The appointment paper for Cabral had the printed letterhead: “Office of the President of the Philippines Malacañang.” On the other hand, the document for Captain Jimmy Oliver Vingno as Customs Deputy Commissioner carried the official seal of the Office of the President, and the words: “Malacañang Palace Manila” underneath.

There were also inconsistencies in the appointment papers that bore the now familiar signature of PBBM. The letterhead on Robles’ document had the black and white print of the presidential seal. Even the fonts used on the appointment papers were so flagrantly different.

Again, why do the appearances of these appointment papers vary from one another? Were they issued from offices other than the OES or the PMS?

At the Senate public hearing yesterday, Rodriguez washed his hands off from the controversy. Under the heading of the OP, the memorandum issued by the Executive Secretary to Sebastian cost the latter’s job.

Such faulty – if not defective – official documents purportedly from the OP have been charged to the so-called “hiccups” of the new administration. One could only dread if hiccups turn to scandalous burps.