PBBM revives ‘OPCOS’ for Rodriguez

DEMONSTRATING that his trust and confidence with his long-time friend and associate, Atty. Victor Rodriguez, has not diminished one bit, President Ferdinand ‘Bongbong’ Marcos Jr., has accepted his resignation on Saturday, September 17, 2022, but immediately re-appointed him as head of the newly-revived, Office of the Presidential Chief of Staff (OPCOS).

The decision for Rodriguez to stay beside him also showed PBBM is his own mind and man as he brushed aside a 5-page memorandum sent to him by Presidential Legal Counsel Juan Ponce Enrile two days earlier, September 15, 2022, opposing the revival of the OPCOS.

However, Enrile, who also served as customs commissioner, finance secretary, justice secretary and defense secretary of President Ferdinand Marcos Sr., can console himself from the presidential snub after PBBM agreed to limit Rodriguez’s new authority on what is provided for under Administrative Order No. 1, which created the OPCOS.

Aside from what is provided for under AO-1, Rodriguez had drafted a ‘Special Order’ that further delineate his authority.

It appears that Enrile objected to the SO because among others, he perceived it to be encroaching on the power of his own office as Presidential Legal Counsel.

In a statement also on Saturday, Press Secretary Atty. Trixie Cruz-Angeles, confirmed Rodriguez’s new position, a position that would not have him go through the rigors of being confirmed by the Commission on Appointments (CA) where political enemies of PBBM are expected to gang up on him on issues that they have blown out of proportion such as ‘Sugar Order No. 4.’

Angeles, in her statement, said Rodriguez stepped down as Executive Secretary after first getting the permission of PBBM.

“With Rodriguez’s resignation as executive secretary, he was appointed by the President as Presidential Chief of Staff, (PCS) a new position created by Administrative Order No. 1, which was signed this week by the chief executive,” said Angeles.

She also stressed that despite the change, Rodriguez would still be reporting directly to PBBM as the OPCOS “will be under the direct supervision of the President.”

The OPCOS shall have the primary function of 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,” read the A.O. No. 1, which took effect immediately.

The administrative order also provides for the PCS to have the rank and emoluments of a Cabinet secretary.

“The PCS will be assisted by a senior deputy chief of staff with the rank of secretary and two deputy chiefs of staff with rank of undersecretary, assistant secretaries and such number of directorial and other administrative staff as he deems necessary and upon the approval of the President,” the AO reads further.

The immediate staff of the PCS, on the other hand, shall come from abolished agencies such as the Office of the Cabinet Secretary and the Presidential Anti-Corruption Commission (PACC).

In a nutshell, the OPCOS will serve as the coordination mechanism of the Office of the President. It will be in-charge of the President’s security monitoring system, which shall be responsible for providing regular situation reports to the President on real-time basis.

The OPCOS will also supervise and coordinate closely with the PMS as the primary government agency directly responsible for providing substantive staff assistance in the Presidential exercise of over-all management of the development process.

The Presidential chief of staff will also coordinate closely with Presidential advisers and assistants whose outputs shall be submitted to the President through the OPCOS copy furnished the Executive Secretary.

As the position of Executive Secretary (ES) is now effectively vacant, Angeles also dismissed the reports in the mainstream media last September 16, 2022, that former Chief Justice Lucas Bersamin, is already the new ‘ES.’

“There are names now being considered for the position of executive secretary and these names are now under the process of vetting by the Office of the President,” Angeles pointed out.

A Palace source said aside from Bersamin, those under consideration are: Interior Secretary Benhur Abalos, former COA chair, Michael Aguinaldo and, Solicitor General Menardo Guevarra (see also Pinoy Exposé, September 17, 2022).