The quality of presidential Cabinet appointments

The success or failure of any president depends largely on his trusted men and women who are called upon to execute his strategies and plans on governing the nation and pursuing the policies and programs envisioned by him as head of state and head of government. Thus, it is important that the chief executive must have a well-honed level of wisdom in choosing his people. His Cabinet members can either make or unmake him.

On the basis of the following criteria, I have reviewed the quality of Cabinet appointments of 17 presidents, starting from the incumbent going backward to General Emilio Aguinaldo: First, high level of competence, credentials, track record and intellect; second, unquestioned integrity, probity and honesty; third, conscientiousness, hard work, focus and commitment to the job; fourth, communication skills and the ability to convey his thoughts to both peers, superiors and subordinates, as well as to the public; and fifth, people-orientation, rapport with both subordinates and the constituencies and ability to build teams and translate plans into actions within the timetable and the allocated resources. I will only focus on the best appointments, and I shall decline to comment on questionable choices based only on political considerations.

Commenting on the BBM Cabinet, the best is the executive secretary, Chief Justice Lucas Bersamin. He passed all the five criteria with flying colors. Not far behind is Finance Secretary Benjamin Diokno, NEDA chief Arsenio Balisacan, and Migrant Affairs Secretary Susan Ople. I have no comment on the rest. The Duterte Cabinet was chosen only from three sources: Davao, San Beda, and his fraternity and classmates, with the exception of NEDA chief and economic planning secretary Karl Kendrick Chua and Silvestre Bello III who were outstanding in their respective areas. The PNoy Cabinet was a hodge-podge kare-kare of something new, something old, something borrowed. But I should single out the presidential communications secretary Sonny Coloma, the best to me in credibility and competence.

Next to Marcos Sr., GMA stayed longest in office because she got a large chunk of Erap's tenure. She appointed too many politicians rather than technocrats, but I applauded her choice of Blas F. Ople as Foreign Affairs secretary and Gilberto Teodoro Jr. as Defense secretary. They were both from Region III, GMA’s home region but they really had sterling performances. Erap stayed only in office for only three years out of his six-year term. His choice of the late Dulce Saguisag as DSWD secretary was a good one as well as Edgardo Angara as executive secretary. FVR appointed too many generals but his choices of Tito Guingona and Ruben Torres as executive secretary and Nieves Confesor as DOLE secretary were excellent. Cory's Cabinet was chosen only on the basis of one criteria; being anti-Marcos. But I should point out that Oscar Orbos and Franklin Drilon as executive secretary and Miriam Santiago in DAR were brilliant choices.

Ferdinand Marcos Sr. stayed in office from 1965 to 1986. He made excellent appointments, like that of Carlos P. Romulo and Arturo Tolentino as DFA secretary, Blas F. Ople as DOLE secretary, OD Corpus in DepEd, Gerardo Sicat in NEDA, Geronimo Velasco in Energy, and Cesar Virata as prime minister and as finance minister. President Diosdado Macapagal's best choices was Jose Diokno as Justice Secretary and vice president Emmanuel Pelaez as Foreign Affairs secretary. President Carlos P. Garcia's best choice was Central Bank governor Miguel Cuaderno Sr. President Ramon Magsaysay chose a brilliant Cebuano as DND secretary, Sotero Cabahug, former governor of Cebu. President Elpidio Quirino named Carlos P. Romulo as Foreign Affairs secretary.

President Manuel Roxas named Sotero Cabahug as auditor general and Carlos P. Romulo as resident commissioner to the US Congress. Sergio Osmeña Sr. appointed Sotero Cabahug as Public Works secretary, Carlos P. Romulo as Public Relations secretary, and Tomas Cabili of Lanao as DND secretary. President Jose P. Laurel, as the Japan-installed president, named Claro M. Recto as minister of Foreign Affairs. President Manuel Quezon was the first to name a Cebuano to the Cabinet, the dynamic Mariano Jesus Cuenco as Public Works secretary. President Emilio Aguinaldo appointed Apolinario Mabini as both executive secretary and as DFA secretary. No one from Visayas and Mindanao were appointed to the Aguinaldo Cabinet.

To me the best president in terms of quality of Cabinet appointees was Marcos Sr., the worst is a toss-up between Erap and Duterte. That is my opinion and if you disagree, that is not a problem. These are subjective judgments but mine are based on objective criteria. Let's just smile and respect each other's choices.