Cabinet Secretary (Philippines)

This article is about the government agency. For an overview of the Philippines' foreign relations, see Foreign relations of the Philippines.

Office of the Cabinet Secretary

Tanggapan ng Kalihim ng Gabinete
Cabinet overview
Formed	22 December 1986
Cabinet executive	TDA

Office of the Cabinet Secretary (Filipino: Tanggapan ng Kalihim ng Gabinete, usually referred to as the Cabinet Secretary) is a cabinet post of the Philippine government tasked to provide support for the President, facilitate the exchange of information, as well as the discussion and resolution of issues, and act as a coordinator and integrator of the initiatives of the President.

The Office of the Cabinet Secretary was officially created anew by Executive Order No. 237, s. 1987. In the EO, the head of the Cabinet Secretariat was given the title Cabinet Secretary and cabinet rank. The office was streamlined and its staffing pattern and mandate spelled out. Its main mandate was to provide technical support to the Cabinet, primary advisory counsel to the President, as well as the following: (1) To Assist in providing timely and organized information to the Cabinet on issues and problems submitted for decision and action; (2) To Provide conference and administrative support services to the Cabinet, the Cabinet Clusters, the Cabinet Assistance System and other committees created by the Cabinet; (3) To Conduct technical research and special studies on specific policy issues; (4) To Maintain an efficient records-management system, including a Cabinet Archives and a library; (5) To Certify Cabinet resolutions that indicate agreements and actions reached during Cabinet meetings; and (6) To Exercise such other functions and powers as may be provided by law or as directed by the President.

On October 31, 2012, President Benigno S. Aquino III, by virtue of Executive Order no. 99, renamed the Office of the Cabinet Secretariat to Office of the Cabinet Secretary. He reinstated the Office of the Cabinet Secretary as independent of the Presidential Management Staff, along lines that closely adhere to its original mandate in 1987. The Cabinet Secretary has also been given cabinet rank and staffing support.

History

This is a brief Summary of the History of the Office of the Cabinet by the official Gazette of the Republic of the Philippines:

The position of Cabinet Secretary has its origins in the War Cabinet of the Commonwealth government-in-exile, when Col. Manuel Nieto was appointed Secretary to the Cabinet by President Manuel L. Quezon in Asheville, NC, “with right to discuss and vote on matters taken up and decided by the Cabinet” on May 19, 1944. On May 20, 1944, President Quezon also delegated the power to sign official papers on his behalf to Col. Nieto. As shown by a telegram from Vice President Osmeña to President Quezon dated June 10, 1944, the position of the Secretary to the Cabinet primarily focused on policy matters. Sec. Nieto was entrusted with communicating the chief executive’s instructions to the Cabinet and handling communications from the Cabinet to the President for his consideration and approval. Administrative matters affecting the bureaucracy, such as it was during wartime, remained in the hands of Dr. Arturo B. Rotor, the Secretary to the President (the position now known as Executive Secretary) who prepared and authenticated legal documents and performed administrative functions.

In the announcement of his new War Cabinet on August 1, 1944, when he assumed office, President Osmeña did not designate anyone Secretary to the Cabinet: instead, he appointed Nieto as Secretary of Agriculture and Commerce. President Osmeña’s Executive Order 15-W, dated August 8, 1944, which further reorganized and consolidated the departments of the Commonwealth government-in-exile, did not include the position of Secretary to the Cabinet. The further reorganization of the government after it was reestablished on Philippine soil (Executive Order No. 27, dated February 27, 1945), made no mention of the position of Secretary to the Cabinet, either. The return of the government to the Philippines once more put the larger bureaucracy at the disposal of the chief executive.

It would not be until the administration of President Carlos P. Garcia that an office specifically tasked with coordinating with the cabinet was once more established. Instead of a cabinet position, however, what was established was a Cabinet Secretariat. This was accomplished by means of President Garcia issuing Memorandum Order No. 1 on January 7, 1958, which aimed to describe and streamline the functions of agencies attached to the Executive Office. In the MO (itself a form of executive issuance first used by President Garcia), the Cabinet Secretariat was made an attached agency of the Executive Office, headed by the Executive Secretary. Its duties were:

°Prepare the Cabinet Agenda;
°Prepare and gather papers for Cabinet action;
°Prepare and keep up-to-date minutes of Cabinet Action
°Keep records of decisions and actions made by the cabinet
°Certify Cabinet action to proper parties
°Provide Secretariat services for the Council of State and other advisory bodies to the President
°Provide a catalog of Cabinet actions and decisions for immediate access of the Cabinet

While the head of the Cabinet Secretariat was the Secretary to the Cabinet, the position was not one bearing cabinet rank: it was akin to the older personal staff of Presidents—the Appointments Secretary, the Social Secretary, etc.—who undertook secretarial functions but who did not have cabinet rank. This practice continued throughout martial law (announced on September 23, 1972 and accompanied by a reorganization of the executive department), and beyond the abolition of the position of Executive Secretary in 1975, until the establishment of the Fourth Republic and the change of the form of government from Presidential to a Pseudo-Parliamentary system.

It was at this time, when President Ferdinand E. Marcos relinquished being concurrent President and Prime Minister (he fused the two positions under himself in 1978), that some functions of the Office of the President were transferred to the newly created separate Office of the Prime Minister. On July 29, 1981, with the issuance of Executive Order No. 708, s. 1981, the Cabinet Secretariat was transferred to the Office of the Prime Minister. The EO reorganized the Office of the President and created the Office of the Prime Minister, effectively enabling Article IX of the 1973 Constitution as amended that year. Despite the physical transfer of the Cabinet Secretariat, its duties and mandate remained the same.

After the EDSA People Power Revolution in 1986, President Corazon C. Aquino, by virtue of her revolutionary powers, which gave her executive issuances the force of law, reverted the form of government back to the presidential system. Among the provisions of Proclamation No. 3, dated March 25, 1986 (the Freedom Constitution) was the dissolving of the Office of the Prime Minister. Most of its functions were returned to the Office of the President. The Cabinet Secretariat, however, continued to function as such, even without an official issuance pertaining to its mandate.

It was not until December 22, 1986, that the Cabinet Secretariat was formally recreated. Administrative Order no. 25, s. 1987 was the first issuance specifically stipulating the mandate of the Cabinet Secretariat. Here the Cabinet Secretary was in charge of coordinating with the members of the Presidential Committee on Public Ethics and Accountability. President Corazon C. Aquino subsequently issued Memorandum Order no. 96, s. 1987, which aimed to streamline the functions of her cabinet and designated the Secretary to the Cabinet to preside over the meetings of the Cabinet Assistance System (CAS). The CAS was devised by then Deputy Executive Secretary Fulgencio Factoran Jr. to iron out interdepartmental problems.

The Office of the Cabinet Secretary was officially created anew by Executive Order No. 237, s. 1987. In the EO, the head of the Cabinet Secretariat was given the title Cabinet Secretary and cabinet rank. The office was streamlined and its staffing pattern and mandate spelled out. Its main mandate was to provide technical support to the Cabinet, primary advisory counsel to the President, as well as the following:

°Assist in providing timely and organized information to the Cabinet on issues and problems submitted for decision and action;
°Provide conference and administrative support services to the Cabinet, the Cabinet Clusters, the Cabinet Assistance System and other committees created by the Cabinet;
°Conduct technical research and special studies on specific policy issues;
°Maintain an efficient records-management system, including a Cabinet Archives and a library;
°Certify Cabinet resolutions that indicate agreements and actions reached during Cabinet meetings;
°Exercise such other functions and powers as may be provided by law or as directed by the President

However, in the latter part of President Corazon C. Aquino’s term, the functions of the Cabinet Secretariat were absorbed by the Presidential Management Staff by virtue of Executive Order No. 441, s. 1991. This also created a policy and public affairs group headed by a Deputy Executive Secretary. It was composed of the Presidential Management Staff, the Presidential Complaints and Action Office, and the Sectoral Liaison Offices. The Presidential Management Staff was in charge of providing common staff support to the President, the Executive Secretary and the Presidential Assistants/Advisers System in such areas as management of the development process, administrative reforms sectoral liaison, public assistance, strategic research, and public formulation.

However, even if absorbed by the Presidential Management Staff, the position of Cabinet Secretary remained. The Cabinet Secretariat was administratively under the Presidential Management Staff, but its functions were in support of the Office of the Cabinet Secretary, to whom they reported directly.

Secretaries to the Cabinet were appointed by the successors of President C. Aquino, although the functions of the Cabinet Secretariat were still being undertaken by the Presidential Management Staff. In some cases, the Secretary of the Cabinet was also concurrent head of the Presidential Management Staff.

During the term of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, the Secretary to the Cabinet was included in different clusters of the Cabinet: examples are Administrative Order no. 104, s. 2004 and Executive Order no. 771, s. 2008.

On October 31, 2012, President Benigno S. Aquino III, by virtue of Executive Order no. 99, renamed the Office of the Cabinet Secretariat to Office of the Cabinet Secretary. He reinstated the Office of the Cabinet Secretary as independent of the Presidential Management Staff, along lines that closely adhere to its original mandate in 1987. The Cabinet Secretary has also been given cabinet rank and staffing support.

Powers and Functions

To carry out its mandate, the Office of the Cabinet Secretary shall have the following powers and functions:

a. Facilitate the identification of a list of priority areas and outcome-based targets in the Social Contract and PDP 2011-2016, in consultation with the Cabinet Clusters, for final approval of the President;
b. Recommend to the President an annual detailed and measurable performance and projects roadmap that will facilitate outputs of the targets against priorities, in close coordination with the concerned agencies;
c. Ensure the timely execution and monitor the significant impact of the targets under the annual performance and projects roadmap, and re-align targets when needed;
d. Represent the President in meetings and such other fora in order to expedite inter-agency action towards the achievement of the targets identified in the performance and projects roadmap;
e. Assist in providing timely and organized information to the Cabinet on issues and problems submitted for decision and action; and
f. Perform such other functions as may be necessary and incidental to the attainment of its objectives or as may be assigned by the President.

External links

• http://www.gov.ph/about/gov/exec/bsaiii/cabinet/the-cabinet-secretary/

• http://www.gov.ph/2012/10/31/executive-order-no-99-s-2012/
• http://www.gov.ph/about/gov/exec/bsaiii/cabinet/the-cabinet-secretary/
• http://www.gov.ph/about/gov/exec/bsaiii/cabinet/the-cabinet-secretary/
• http://www.gov.ph/about/gov/exec/bsaiii/cabinet/the-cabinet-secretary/
• http://www.gov.ph/2012/10/31/executive-order-no-99-s-2012/