Here is a first blunder for President Rody Duterte after his Executive Order #1– titled “Reengineering the Office of the President Towards Greater Responsiveness to the Attainment of Development Goals– quoted the wrong section of the 1987 Constitution which deals with the vast executive powers of the President.
“We will take note of that,” said Presidential spokesman, Sec. Ernesto Abella when members of the Malacanang Press Corps called his attention over the matter.
Abella said the Office of the President will take a look at the oversight when asked further if there is a need to pull out the EO– that would eventually becomes the law of the land.
The three-page EO cited on the “whereas” portion, Section 7 of Article VII of the 1987 Constittion read as: ”The President-elect and the Vice-President elect shall assume office at the beginning of their terms” instead of Section 17.
Section 17 discusses the president’s control of all the executive departments, bureaus, and offices. He shall ensure that the laws be faithfully executed.
It was unclear, however, if the error should would have been on the use of “Section” rather than “Article”. Article VII of the 1987 Constitution deals with the executive department.
The Office of the President may have referred to Section 17, on the powers of the President over the branches in the executive department.
Section 1 of EO 1 consolidated 12 agencies under a cabinet secretary. These includes: Cooperative Development Authority; Housing and Urban Development Coordinating Council; National Anti-Poverty Commission; National Commission on Indigenous Peoples; National Commission on Muslim Filipinos; National Food Authority; OP-Presidential Action Center; Philippine Commission on the Urban Poor; and Technical Education Skills Development Authority.