The President's tool chest of powers and resources

Seeing fresh faces in Malacañang and hearing the echo of a new presidential voice booming across the Batasan hall — these have excited the nation, but the novelty of transition is gradually wearing off. With President Benigno Aquino III’s inauguration and State of the Nation Address behind us, the public now expect, and await, concrete results. Now the real work begins. But President Aquino raised a problem in his SONA: The national coffers are nearing depletion, a mere six percent of the entire 2010 budget, he said, whereas we are still in the middle of the year. Yet the shortage of funds has not grounded government so far. This is because at least part of the money released earlier is still on-stream and ready to fuel the operations of its various agencies for the rest of the year. So what is most important now is for the President and his officials to husband the powers and resources at their command, and thus pilot the ship of state into safe waters. As Noynoy himself said when asked about hard nuts to crack, such as land reform on Hacienda Luisita: "The President has vast powers." But he has to begin with what powers and resources are already on hand, within his easy reach: Since Aquino had declared in his inaugural speech that we, the people, are “his boss," let us promptly tell him: “PNoy, there are important objects on your desk. They represent the powers and resources at your command. Learn to use them, and use them well." Presidential powers and duties Among the President’s many powers and duties, the most important is that of executing the nation’s laws, with the help of his Cabinet and the executive departments that they head. This power even includes some leeway to intervene in legislation. For example, the President has the authority to issue executive and administrative orders, and even to veto laws passed by Congress. What this means is that, immediately upon assuming office, Aquino could get his Cabinet’s recommendations on how to better enforce the laws, and act immediately on urgent problems of governance. To enforce laws and implement programs, he and his Cabinet have at their command 19 regular executive departments, which cover the most important fields of running and building the nation — from agriculture, trade and industry, finance, infrastructure, and other aspects of the economy, to education, health and other social services, to justice, defense, local government, and foreign affairs.

Major components of the 2010 national budget based on the 2010 General Appropriations Act. GMANews.TV

As top civilian executive, the President supervises local governments and the Philippine National Police (PNP) through the powerful Department of the Interior and Local Government. Finally, as civilian commander in chief of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP), he may call on it to quell armed rebellion, repel foreign invasion, and impose martial law as needed, subject to Constitutional provisions. But what if the President can’t trust the men and women directly under him in the civilian bureaucracy and the armed services? That is no excuse for failing to execute laws, because he has the power to hire and fire. With the consent of the Commission on Appointments, he is authorized to appoint and replace members of his Cabinet, ambassadors, and senior officers of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP). He also has a similar power to fill up vacancies in the Supreme Court, Commission on Elections, and other constitutional bodies. This power to appoint, by itself, is already an awesome force multiplier, because the President can use it — or abuse it, for that matter — not merely to choose people he trusts, not merely to ensure teamwork, but also to exact obedience and loyalty. But that’s just a general overview of the President’s powers. There are more specific tools immediately at his disposal. The Office of the President: A powerful tool in itself Through past administrations from the time of Roxas to Marcos and beyond, the number of executive departments had doubled. Yet on top of these emerged another layer of bureaucracy: the Office of the President (OP) itself, which sheer size and complexity has grown even more dramatically, especially during the 20 years of Marcos rule.

A comparative chart showing the relative proportions of the various components of the 2010 National Budget, at left, including that of the Office of the President. Enlarged on the right is a simplified breakdown of the budget of the Office of the President. GMANews.TV

The position of Executive Secretary, which during Quezon’s time was called “Secretary to the President," is the highest ranking official serving in the Cabinet. Usually called the “Little President," he is considered his boss’s most trusted official, indeed, his alter-ego: he can issue orders in the President’s name, and review and amend decisions of other Cabinet secretaries. He takes care of all the administrative details of running the Palace on a daily basis, so that the President can focus on bigger concerns. Thus, a well-chosen and trusted Executive Secretary allows President Aquino to enhance his strengths and compensate for his limitations. Furthermore, the Executive Secretary and his or her deputies are not left to their own devices in providing decision-making and administrative support for the President. They are backed by a Presidential Management Staff (PMS) — virtually a miniature Cabinet and bureaucracy working in Malacanang’s inner sanctorum on a daily basis. The PMS is expected to give timely, reliable, accurate and comprehensive information for use in presidential decision-making. The PMS is led by the Presidential Chief of Staff, the Cabinet Secretary, and the Appointments Secretary, and has eight functional units plus regional field units. Its various offices focus on broadly defined areas of governance, such as political affairs, macro-economy, agro-industrial and infrastructure policy, social policy, corporate affairs, development administration, regional concerns, and special projects. One can view the Executive Secretary and the PMS combined as the President’s daily way of interacting with the Cabinet and the broader branches of government. The power of each official of the PMS cannot be underestimated. Even just the mundane work of, for example, the Appointments Secretary, now held by Rochelle Ahorro who worked closely with Noynoy for the past 12 years, can become a key issue because she arranges the President’s daily schedule and therefore might exercise some power in who gets how much of his time. Also, as the recent process of crafting President Aquino’s SONA has shown, the PMS also plays a major role in preparing major speeches, although the recently-formed Communications Group also has a hand. According to Executive Secretary Edwin Lacierda, the PMS began the preliminary staff work for preparing the SONA based on incoming inputs from the Cabinet. Finally, President Aquino has recently reverted back to the PMS the additional power of controlling the President’s pork barrel. (See: Aquino cedes control of ‘president’s pork’ to PMS) Complex web of agencies under the President’s office Further down the ladder is a still more complicated layer of bureaucracy, both those directly under the Office of the President and those supervised by the Executive branch outside of the regular departments. The President can wield this web of agencies to great effect, because in most cases he has control over their budget, and because he has “hire-and-fire" powers over their top officials, limited only by provisions of law on security of tenure. Intelligence funds and social funds are two bulk resources attached to this complex web of agencies. These funds could be released at the President’s discretion and, in the case of intelligence funds, are not subject to regular government auditing procedures. These funds are thus a big concern because they are prone to abuse. In the economic field, a very crucial arena of the President’s decision-making, he can immediately rely on the policy studies and recommendations of the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA). The NEDA is a cabinet-level agency with seven inter-agency committees and a Secretariat with three offices headed by the Director General. NEDA wields immense power through its inter-agency committees and Secretariat, because their tasks are to advise the President, to recommend policy, and to coordinate the work of other government agencies on key economic matters such as budget, tariff, infrastructure, investment, land use, and social and regional development. Thus, if one were to push for a strategic national project that involves various departments — say, the resumption of the botched National Broadband Network (NBN) — one needs to get not only NEDA’s official recommendation but its full-spectrum support from planning to coordination and monitoring. Attached to the NEDA are the following: • National Statistical Coordination Board (NSCB) • National Statistics Office (NSO) • Statistical Research and Training Center (SRTC) • Tariff Commission (TC) • Philippine National Volunteer Service Coordinating Agency (PNVSCA) • Philippine Institute for Development Studies (PIDS). Other economic agencies under the OP or as separate executive office are: • Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) • Minerals Development Council • Commission on Population (POPCOM, operationally under the Department of Health) • Philippine Council on ASEAN and APEC Cooperation (PCAAC) The President will also find a number of regional development agencies and authorities either placed directly under his office and headed by a Presidential Adviser, or under other Executive offices, or converted into corporations wherein he can appoint members of the governing board. Examples of these are the Office of North Luzon Quadrangle Area, the Luzon Urban Beltway Super Region, the Cagayan Economic Zone Authority, the Authority of the Freeport Area of Bataan, the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority, and the Zamboanga City Special Economic Zone Authority. In theory, the Presidential Advisers and the regional development agencies that they head are supposed to provide short-cut lines of authority and back-channels between Malacañang and selected local government units, so that special projects of national impact or regional scope are given special Presidential attention. Many of these agencies or authorities are also government corporations that provide much-needed revenue and additional leverage for President in ensuring the cooperation of local governments for key economic programs. On environmental concerns, the President can immediately harness the following agencies either under the OP or under other executive offices: • Commission on Maritime and Ocean Affairs • Office of the Presidential Adviser on Global Warming and Climate Change • National Water Resources Board (NWRB) • National Climate Change Commission On housing concerns, directly under the President’s office although now delegated to the Vice-President's office is the Housing and Urban Development Coordinating Council (HUDCC), and its attached agencies or corporations: • Housing and Land Use Regulatory Board (HLURB) • Home Guaranty Corporation • National Home Mortgage Finance Corporation • National Housing Authority The President’s office also controls a number of major agencies in the fields of education, culture and sports, such as the following: • Commission on Higher Education (CHED) • National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA) • The National Archives • the National Library • the National Historical Institute (NHI) • Cultural Center of the Philippines Other culture, sports and games-related agencies under other executive offices include: Optical Media Board; Commission on the Filipino Language; Film Development Council of the Philippines; Movie and Television Review and Classification Board (MTRCB); Games and Amusements Board (GAB); Philippine Racing Commission (PHILRACOM); and Philippine Sports Commission (PSC). Next, the OP has the resources to directly reach out to key sectors of society through its various sectoral commissions, councils and offices, such as: • Philippine Commission on Women • National Commission on the Role of Filipino Women (NCRFW) • National Youth Commission (NYC) • Commission on Filipino Overseas (CFO) • Presidential Commission for the Urban Poor (PCUP) • Office on Muslim Affairs (OMA) • National Commission on Indigenous Peoples (NCIP), currently under DENR but originally under the OP • National Council on Disability Affairs • Office of External Affairs • National Anti-Poverty Commission (NAPC) • EDSA People Power Commission The President also has direct control over key agencies that focus on justice, public safety, national security, and foreign affairs. Directly under the OP are: • Presidential Visiting Forces Agreement Commission • Office of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process (OPAPP) • Presidential Anti-Graft Commission (PAGC) • Presidential Anti-Smuggling Group • Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission Under other Executive offices are the National Security Council (NSC), National Intelligence Coordinating Agency (NICA), and the Dangerous Drugs Board (DDB), including the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) under DDB supervision. Finally, through its Office of the Press Secretary (OPS) and its Commission on Information and Communications Technology (CICT), the OP can boast of the biggest single cluster of government media, communications and info-tech agencies. Under the OPS are the following attached bureaus and agencies: • Philippine Information Agency (PIA) • Bureau of Communication Services (BCS) • Radio-Television Malacañang (RTVM) • National Broadcasting Network (NBN) • National Printing Office (NPO) • News and Information Bureau (NIB) • Philippines News Agency (PNA) • Philippine Broadcasting Service – Bureau of Broadcast Services (PBS-BBS) Just recently, the President announced the reorganization of the OPS into a much broader agency on communications that will provide comprehensive support to the President’s public information needs. On the other hand, the following offices have been attached to the more recently created Commission on Information and Communications Technology (CICT): • National Telecommunications Commission • National Computer Center • Telecommunications Office Malacañang facilities Finally, the President and his family are given the privilege of making full use of physical facilities and security services associated with Malacañang Palace and the OP. Malacañang, historically the official residence of Spanish and American governor-generals, has continued this role through past Presidents of the Commonwealth and the post-war Republic. This function has expanded beyond the original Palace and its grounds by the Pasig River, to include The Mansion House in Baguio City. The Presidential Security Group (PSG), a brigade-sized joint AFP-PNP force, is tasked to secure the President, Vice President and their immediate families, as well as members of the Cabinet and visiting dignitaries. While a regular Army brigade usually has three battalions and around 1,000 men and women under arms, the PSG is organized differently and trained differently. It has Presidential Escort and Presidential Guard units, a security battalion, a special reaction unit, an intelligence company, and medical units. Apart from its organic components, the PSG also has operational control over several more PNP and AFP units. It has thus a total strength of 4,000-plus. Because of the PSG’s crucial security role, its forces ensure a very high degree of discipline and undergo special training in handling firearms and equipment, anti-riot tactics, counter-guerrilla and counter-terrorist techniques, and airborne, amphibious, and mountain operations, apart from honor-guard duties. To facilitate the President’s unhampered movement, the government reserves the use of various modes of transport. For land transport, the OP reserves official cars for him as well as for his security escorts, although the President can also choose to use his own car and driver. President Aquino uses two cars, both sporting the well-known “1" plate, handled by Gerry Gasingan, who has been his driver since 1986. The current presidential limousine is a black bullet-proof Mercedes Benz S600. The other, which he owns but now also bullet-proofed, is a cream Toyota Land Cruiser Prado. For air transport, the Air Force reserves the 250th (Presidential) Airlift Wing. The Presidential fleet includes a Fokker F28 Fellowship, called "Kalayaan One" when the President is onboard; three Bell 412 transport helicopters; three Sikorsky S-76 Spirit helicopters; a Sikorsky S-70-5 Black Hawk helicopter; and several other helicopters and light airplanes. These are used for domestic trips. For Presidential trips outside of the Philippines, the Air Force reportedly uses a Bombardier Learjet 60 but mostly charters aircraft from Philippine Airlines, mostly Airbus A320 and A340-300. For sea and inland water transport, the Navy reserves BRP Pag-asa as the Presidential yacht while the Coast Guard reserves Pasig river craft. ‘No excuses this time’ Being suddenly thrust into the Presidency, when just a year ago Noynoy did not appear in any of the surveys, must make the challenge of running the nation doubly difficult. Then President Corazon Aquino found this out in 1986, and her son must be finding it out now. However, Noynoy walked into Malacañang with many positive factors working in his favor. These include a landslide electoral victory, the acceptance and goodwill of business, media, churches and the international community, and a tolerably smooth transition. Now add to these the highly-evolved and immense powers and resources that inhere to whoever is President. One realizes that all the tools and building blocks are in place for good governance and justice, which are key for the nation to finally lift itself from its decades-old rut. Having the political will to reform the system, to implement the Panata sa Pagbabago, is easier said than done. But the President has no luxury of time, indeed, no alternative, in fulfilling his campaign promises. As many political bloggers and even politicians are now wont to say: There will be no excuses this time.—Jun Verzola with Jam L. Sisante, GMANews.TV Data research and visualization by Wayne Manuel, infographics concept and design by TJ Dimacali and Analyn Perez Data sources: * Internet portal and associated websites of the Government of the Philippines (www.gov.ph and www.op.gov.ph prior to June 30, www.news.ops.gov.ph from July 9 onwards) * General Appropriations Act for 2010 * Wikipedia entries on the Office of the President