WHEN EO BEGINS TO SOUND LIKE EEEW

President Aquino has just issued two executive orders that send mixed signals to the bureaucracy and the people.

The first is the order for the return of the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office’s control under the Office of the President.  At the surface, there is nothing scandalous in the EO because the PCSO is originally with the OP. But to political duderos like me, the questions are: Why it was taken out of OP in the first place? Why was it transferred to line agencies like the Department of Social Welfare and Development and then to the Department of Health?  What are the timelines of these transfers? Were these transfers done near elections when “welfare money” and “health cards” need to reach vote-rich communities? 

Skeptics of course will ask: Is it being transferred now because the President wants a steady flow of money for his own dole-out program? Political extremists will add: If the fund had been misused by the past administration, what is the guarantee that it will not be dirtied again?

The second order is that giving Executive Secretary Paquito Ochoa the power to approve releases of any interests or penalties of the Social Security System (SSS) not exceeding P200, 000. The process previously needs the approval of the President.

Skeptics will ask: Why is the OP – and now ES Ochoa – being burdened with a ministerial task that SSS officials can do by their own?  Political extremists will add: Is this a way of pinpointing the ES as the one who erring companies can approach if they want their problems solved?

In both instances, the OP has assumed tasks that line agencies can perform. Can he not trust his people to do what’s right and just?

This administration’s short history is already replete with the issuance of orders and circulars that are apparently issued in haste, and have to be taken back for glaring errors, and released again after serious tweaking and fine-tuning. This is what happened in memorandum circular 1 and now the EO for the rebel soldiers’ amnesty.

In every instance, it is the President who suffers. He tries very hard to justify the errors of his team and he ends up looking like he is micromanaging the entire government. The President’s men should get their acts together. Nag–VMV na ba kayo?