PRESIDENT Duterte on Monday issued Executive Order (EO) 1 reorganizing several agencies that deal with poverty under the office of the Cabinet secretary. This makes the government’s program against poverty properly coordinated.
Under EO 1, the following agencies were put under the supervision of Cabinet Secretary Leoncio B. Evasco Jr.: 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; National Youth Commission; Presidential Action Center; Philippine Commission on Women; Philippine Coconut Authority; Presidential Commission on the Urban Poor, and; Technical Education Skills Development Authority.
Mr. Duterte directed the Cabinet secretary and the said agencies to evaluate the existing poverty-reduction programs and formulate a more responsive set of programs to complement the existing ones.
“They shall develop specific programs and projects that seek to reduce poverty, improve the lives of the most vulnerable sectors of society; promote social education of the people to allow them to participate in effecting real change by keeping watch of the affairs of the government; and listen to people’s feedback,” the EO said.
“They shall conduct consultations with LGUs [local government units] for the proper allocation of resources and program implementation and recommend courses of action for the government to adopt to achieve a sustainable system of meeting the needs of the people, while ensuring resiliency for vulnerable communities,” it added.
The new EO also consolidated the functions of the Office of the Appointments Secretary and the Presidential Management Staff under the Special Assistant to the President Christopher Go, who shall exercise oversight functions over the said offices.
An Events Management Cluster was also created to ensure collaboration among the following agencies in preparing and managing presidential engagements: Presidential Management Staff; Presidential Security Group; Office of the Chief Presidential Protocol; Media Accreditation and Relations Office, and Radio-Television Malacañang.