NOY'S EXEC SECRETARY OCHOA NOW MORE POWERFUL UNDER 2011 BUDGET
MANILA, JANUARY 6, 2011 (STAR) By Jess Diaz - Executive Secretary Paquito Ochoa Jr. is now more powerful under the P1.645-trillion 2011 General Appropriations Act or the national budget.
Aside from President Aquino, the budget law authorizes Ochoa to make disbursements in the P400-million intelligence fund of the Office of the President for this year.
When the President submitted his first budget proposal to the House of Representatives and the Senate in August, he used the clause "upon approval by the Office of the President," in referring to the disbursement of the fund.
This means that aside from the President, Ochoa is authorized to approve the use of the OP's intelligence funds, according to members of the House appropriations committee. The language used in the original proposal was "upon approval by the President."
Budget Secretary Florencio Abad and other Malacañang officials did not explain the change in the budget language. The lawmakers themselves did not seek explanation from the officials during the hearings on the President's first budget proposal.
This year is the first time that an official other than the President himself is allowed to disburse the OP's intelligence budget.
Before Aquino submitted his budget proposal to Congress, Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile had urged him to give up his intelligence funds, since the OP is not an agency spying on the enemies of the state and on criminal syndicates, though it is a user of intelligence information.
However, the President insisted on having hundreds of millions in intelligence funds. He originally sought P650 million, the same amount of taxpayers' money for "confidential expenses" that was available to his predecessor, former President Gloria Arroyo, every year during her nine-year watch.
Aquino later reduced his request by P250 million to P400 million, realigning the reduction to two newly created offices.
He allocated P83 million to the Truth Commission and P50 million to the Presidential Communications Development and Strategic Planning Office headed by former broadcaster Ricky Carandang.
The Supreme Court has declared the creation of the Truth Commission as unconstitutional. Malacañang is appealing the decision. – With Delon Porcalla
5 units of president's office to be directly under Ochoa By Aurea Calica (The Philippine Star) Updated January 04, 2011 12:00 AM Comments (4)
MANILA, Philippines - Five major units within the Office of the President will now be directly under Executive Secretary Paquito Ochoa Jr. after an organizational restructuring.
Ochoa announced the restructuring of the OP yesterday to improve the operations and efficiency of the offices within Malacañang.
Under the new organizational structure initiated by Ochoa, five major units will report directly to the Office of the Executive Secretary, namely the Legal and Legislative Offices (formerly the Legal Office), the Government Affairs and Financial Administrative Offices (formerly the Finance and General Government and Administration Office), the Strategic Initiatives and Government Performance Monitoring Offices, the Internal Audit Office and the executive secretary's immediate staff and support offices.
Ochoa told heads and chiefs of key offices under the OP during the workshop titled "Improving the Operational Arrangements of the OES for Better Efficiency and Effectiveness" that changes were necessary to help attain the goals of this administration.
"When I started conceptualization of the improvements we need to make, I was confronted with the old and the new. I recognized the wisdom of continuing the many practices that have been tested by time, but at the same time I saw the need to infuse new things," Ochoa said.
Another key change under the new setup is the adoption of a case decongestion and delay reduction strategy for the Legal and Legislative Offices to allow the OP to dispose of pending cases of the recently abolished Presidential Anti-Graft Commission.
A strategy that will "provide complete statistical analysis of our caseload by type of case, and the specific measures to remove backlog within a specified timeframe" will be adopted, Ochoa said.
At the same time, the executive secretary rallied Palace employees to show more initiative and commitment so they could "strategically contribute to the President's goals for our country."
Ochoa also told employees following the flag ceremony that love of country should motivate them to "do more than what is required of them."
Meanwhile, a member of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) yesterday said that the President should make sure that he appoints credible and qualified people to his Cabinet, and not limit his options to his friends or those who served under the administration of his mother, former President Corazon Aquino.
In an interview over Church-run Radio Veritas, Butuan Bishop Juan de Dios Pueblos admitted he does not know the direction the Aquino administration is heading to but said he is hoping to see changes in the President's official family this year.
"I am dreaming, praying and hoping that he will be a real president, meaning, that he will exercise his presidency because as of now it is unclear and I don't know where we are going the way he's running the government," said Pueblos.
He likewise said that Aquino's choice of Cabinet officials should not be a form of gratitude to people who gave financial and other forms of support to him during the campaign period. – With Evelyn Macairan
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