MALACANANG on Friday, November 2, hit back at resigned National Anti-Poverty Commission (NAPC) head Liza Maza, who criticized the transfer of eight agencies under the Office of the President's (OP) supervision to departments whose heads are former military officers.
President Rodrigo Duterte's Executive Order (EO) 67 has transferred eight agencies, including the NAPC, from the Office of the Cabinet Secretary to the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG), and Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD).
Maza, in a Facebook post, claimed that transferring the NAPC to DSWD was contrary to Republic Act (RA) 8425 that created the commission and is therefore illegal.
Maza also called EO 67 as a "horror story" as the eight agencies are now under the direct supervision of three line departments, two of which were headed by former Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) chief-of-staff Eduardo Año and former Army chief Rolando Bautista.
Currently, the DILG is headed by Año, while the DSWD is led by Bautista.
Presidential Spokesperson Salvador Panelo, in a statement issued Friday night, said Maza's reasoning was "ill-founded."
"Ms. Liza Maza persists in her futile contention that Executive Order 67 issued by the President is not sanctioned by law," Panelo said.
"This time, she argues that since the National Anti-Poverty Commission was created under the Office of the President by Republic Act 8425, it can no longer be transferred to the Department of Social Welfare and Development. Such line of reasoning is ill-founded," he added.
He countered that the Constitution "expressly vests in the President the power of control over all the executive departments, bureaus, and offices."
He cited Section 31 of the Administrative Code, which states that the President, subject to the policy in the Executive Office and in order to achieve simplicity, economy and efficiency, shall have continuing authority to reorganize the administrative structure of the Office of the President.
The provision added that, "for this purpose, he may... transfer any agency under the Office of the President to any other department or agency," Panelo stressed.
"Such authority includes the capacity of the president to reorganize these departments, bureaus and offices," Panelo said.
Panelo also took note of a similar argument raised before the Supreme Court (SC).
In this case, it was argued that since the Presidential Commission for the Urban Poor (PCUP) and the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples (NCIP) were created by statutes under the OP, they can only be transformed, merged or attached by statutes, and not by mere executive orders by the President.
“The Supreme Court said that such a contention ‘fails to impress,’” Panelo said.
"The Court then elaborated that, '(t)he Constitution's express grant of the power of control in the President justifies an executive action to carry out reorganization measures under a broad authority of law,'" he noted.
"Perhaps, next time, Ms. Maza should first consult with her lawyers before carelessly jumping into mistaken conclusions of the law. As for us, we will continue implementing measures, in accordance with law, that will be beneficial to fellow citizens," he added. (SunStar Philippines)