The BGA Philippines Team, led by Managing Director Victor Andres Manhit, wrote an update to clients on the Philippine Cabinet reshuffle.

Context

  • Philippine Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin held a press conference May 23 to provide updates on reshuffling the president’s Cabinet. This follows President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr.’s call for the courtesy resignation of all Cabinet secretaries and heads of special offices and departments under the Office of the President. The move is part of a broader strategic recalibration aimed at evaluating the performance of each department and ensuring alignment with the administration’s updated priorities and the most urgent needs of the Filipino public.

Significance

  • The executive secretary shared that Marcos has decided to retain the secretaries of the agencies that are part of the economic team. These are the departments of Finance (Secretary Ralph Recto); Economy, Planning and Development (Secretary Arsenio Balisacan); Budget and Management (Secretary Amenah Pangandaman); and Trade and Industry (Secretary Cristina Roque) in addition to the special assistant to the president for investment and economic affairs (Secretary Frederick Go).
  • Bersamin also announced a series of leadership changes affecting several other key departments: Foreign Affairs Secretary Enrique Manalo will replace Ambassador Antonio Lagdameo as Philippine ambassador to the United Nations. Undersecretary Ma. Theresa Lazaro will be the new foreign affairs secretary. She previously served as undersecretary for bilateral relations and ASEAN affairs, ambassador to Fance and Switzerland and consul general to Sydney, Australia.


Implications

  • Government operations will remain uninterrupted; officials who submitted their courtesy resignations will continue in their roles unless their resignations are formally accepted. Should a cabinet official’s resignation be accepted, their appointment will officially end, and they will relinquish all authority over their department and any concurrent roles held in interagency councils or boards. All the third-level officials cabinet officials brought with them, who have co-terminus appointments, will most likely be removed as well. To keep services running smoothly, the president can assign an officer-in-charge to temporarily lead the department until a new secretary or head is officially appointed. This ensures the department continues to function and deliver important government programs.

We will continue to keep you updated on developments in the Philippines as they occur. If you have any comments or questions, please contact BGA Philippines Managing Director Victor Andres “Dindo” Manhit at vmanhit@bowergroupasia.com.

Best regards,

BGA Philippines Team

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Managing Director

Dindo is recognized as one of Manila’s most well-connected and savvy advisors on developments in government and business in the Philippines. Concurrent to his role as managing director for BGA’s operations in the Philippines, he is also the founder and managing director of the Stratbase Group and president of its policy think tank, the Albert del Rosario Institute for Strategic and International Studies. Since 1991, Dindo has served as a member of the faculty and is the former chair of the Political Science Department and a senior fellow of the La Salle Institute of Governance at the De La Salle ... Read More