Aquino signs EO establishing 5 Cabinet clusters

President Benigno Aquino III has signed Executive Order 43 which formally establishes the five Cabinet clusters that will address key priority areas of his administration.

Under Executive Order No. 43, which the President signed on May 13, 2011, the five Cabinet clusters are Good Governance and Anti-Corruption; Human Development and Poverty Reduction; Economic Development; Security, Justice and Peace; Climate Change Adaptation and Mitigation.

In a press statement Monday, Executive Secretary Paquito Ochoa Jr. said the clustering of Cabinet aims to ensure efficiency, effectiveness and focus in carrying out the programs and policies of the government. The clusters are primarily based on the proposals submitted by Ochoa and the Cabinet to President Aquino during a workshop held earlier this year.

The cluster system was subsequently adopted during the first Legislative Executive Development Advisory Council (LEDAC) meeting. Subsequent Cabinet meetings had been organized along this line, consistent with the President’s policy of convening the Cabinet in clusters.

“The President believes it is more productive and efficient to meet Cabinet secretaries on specific concerns rather than have officials join meetings on concerns that do not involve their portfolios,” Ochoa explained. He said members of President Aquino’s official family also agreed that the cluster system is an effective and efficient way of carrying out the programs of the Chief Executive.

“The cluster system will help the President in the effective implementation of the 2011-2016 Philippine Development Plan, which is essentially the blueprint we will use to guide us in hitting the development targets we have set based on the 16-point agenda of the President,” Ochoa said. He added the clusters will also serve as advisor committees for the President and shall recommend policies related to their respective cluster’s concerns. Each cluster will be chaired by a Cabinet member, with a line agency or office designated as secretariat.

The Executive Secretary and the Presidential Management Staff will attend all cluster meetings, with the Executive Secretary exercising supervision over the cluster system in the performance of his “general monitoring and oversight functions.”

Cluster chairs may also require the participation of the heads of other departments or agencies when necessary.

The Good Governance and Anti-Corruption cluster is chaired by the President with the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) serving as secretariat. Its members are the secretaries of the Departments of Finance (DOF), the Interior and Local Government (DILG) and Justice (DOJ); the head of the Presidential Legislative Liaison Office; and the Chief Presidential Legal Counsel.

The Human Development and Poverty Reduction cluster is led by the secretary of the Department of Social Welfare and Development with the National Anti-Poverty Commission (NAPC) serving as secretariat and lead convenor. The members are the chair of the Housing and Urban Development Coordinating Council (HUDCC); the secretaries of the Departments of Agrarian Reform (DAR), Agriculture (DA), Environment and National Resources (DENR), Education (DepEd), Health (DOH), Labor and Employment (DOLE), DILG, DBM, and the National Economic Development Authority (NEDA); and the chair of the Commission on Higher Education (CHED).

The secretary of DOF leads the Economic Development cluster and NEDA as its secretariat. The members include the secretaries of NEDA, DA, DBM, DILG and the Departments of Trade and Industry (DTI), Public Works and Highways (DPWH), Transportation and Communications (DOTC), Energy (DOE); Science and Technology (DOST), and Tourism (DOT).

The Executive Secretary chairs the Security, Justice and Peace cluster with the National Security Council serving as secretariat. Its members are the secretaries of DILG, Foreign Affairs (DFA), National Defense (DND), and DOJ; and the presidential adviser on the Peace Process.

The Climate Change Adaptation and Mitigation cluster is chaired by the DENR Secretary with the Climate Change Commission functioning as secretariat. Its members are HUDCC chair, the secretaries of DOST,DILG, DPWH, DSWD, DA, DAR, DOE, and DND; and the head of the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority. — Amita O. Legaspi/KBK, GMA News