THE CABINET SECRETARY

AND THE HISTORY OF THE

OFFICE OF THE CABINET
SECRETARY

OFFICE OF THE CABINET SECRETARY

Office of the Secretary
 THE CABINET SECRETARY AND THE
HISTORY OF THE OFFICE OF THE CABINET SECRETARY

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 Manuel Nieto
First Secretary to the Cabinet
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 to:
  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; and,
 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 S. 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:

 to assist in providing timely and organized information to the Cabinet on

issues and problems submitted for decision and action;
 to provide conference and administrative support services to the Cabinet, the
Cabinet Clusters, the Cabinet Assistance System and other committees
created by the Cabinet;
 to conduct technical research and special studies on specific policy issues;
 to maintain an efficient records-management system, including a Cabinet
Archives and a library;
 to certify Cabinet resolutions that indicate agreements and actions reached
during Cabinet meetings; and,
 to 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.
Presidency of
Corazon C.
Aquino
1986-1992

Fulgencio S. Factoran Jr.
Cabinet Secretary
(1986-1987)
Aniceto M. Sobrepeña
Jose P. De Jesus
Cabinet Secretary and
Cabinet Secretary
Concurrent PMS Head
(1987-1990)
(1990-1992)

Presidency of
Fidel V. Ramos
1992-1998
Ma. Leonora Vasquez-De Jesus Alexander P. Aguirre
Cabinet Secretary and PMS Head Cabinet Secretary and PMS Head
(1992-1996) (1996-1998)

Presidency of
Joseph Ejercito
Estrada
1998-2001
Ma. Leonora Vasquez-De Jesus Ramon B. Cardenas Ma. Celia Fernandez-Estavillo
Cabinet Secretary and PMS Head Cabinet Secretary and PMS Head Cabinet Secretary and PMS Head
(1998-2000) (2000-2001) (2001)

Presidency of
Gloria
Macapagal-
Arroyo
2001-2010 Victoria P. Ricardo L. Saludo Silvestre H. Bello III Maricor K. Imperial
Garchitorena-Arpon
Cabinet Secretary Cabinet Secretary Cabinet Secretary
Cabinet Secretary and
PMS Head (2001)
(2001-2008) (2008-2010) (2010)

Presidency of
Benigno S.
Aquino III
2010-2016
Julia Andrea R. Abad Jose Rene D. Almendras
Cabinet Secretary and PMS Head Cabinet Secretary
(2010-2012) (2012-2016)

Presidency of
Rodrigo Roa
Duterte
2016-Present

Leoncio B. Evasco, Jr.

Cabinet Secretary
(2016-Present)

CABINET SECRETARIES
1986-Present
 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.

Upon the assumption of President Rodrigo Roa Duterte, he reorganized the

Office of the President; this included the placement of twelve key agencies related to
food security and anti-poverty efforts under the supervision of the Cabinet Secretary.
This was followed by the creation of three new units under the OCS, namely: the
Office for Supervised Agencies, Office for Participatory Governance, and the
Strategic Action and Response Office.