PRESIDENT Benigno Aquino III has returned the supervision and management of the President's Social Fund (PSF) to the Presidential Management Staff (PMS).
During the term of former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, the social fund was under the jurisdiction of the Office of the President (OP).
In a memorandum issued Thursday, Aquino gave back the mandate to the PMS to handle the PSF.
The PMS was the agency designated to indentify, evaluate and recommend project beneficiaries of the PSF. It was also tasked at handling disbursement of the fund and monitors the implementation of approved projects.
"The PMS, acting through its head or its duly authorized representative is hereby designated as the Officer-in-Charge to oversee the management and administration of the PSF and other funds presently under the PMS," the memorandum read.
It added: "As such, the PMS Head shall exercise the necessary powers for the efficient operation of the PFS, including the authority to undertake the final review of all requests for assistance from the funds and submit recommendations on the requests to the President."
PASG and PAGC's fate
Aquino will likely abolish the Presidential Anti-Smuggling Group (PASG), preferring to give the Bureau of Customs to do their job in eliminating smuggling.
He said he wanted to give BOC Chief Angelito Alvarez a chance to prove himself and to show what he can do in the campaign against smuggling.
Alvarez earlier favored the abolishing of PASG which was created by former President and now Pampanga Representative Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.
Aquino also said that the Presidential Anti-Graft Commission (PAGC) will be unnecessary if the Ombudsman is doing its job properly.
He said the conduct of lifestyle checks and investigations of graft practices of government officials should be handled by the Ombudsman.
"Kung makukuha mo iyung Ombudsman na maayos, puwede na iyun," he said. (Jill Beltran/JMR/Sunnex)