GOCC change needed as well

Just recently, as part of his Cabinet reset, President Marcos ordered the courtesy resignation of members of his team and then accepted a number of them.

These include those tendered by Housing Secretary Jerry Acuzar and Environment Secretary Maria Antonia Yulo- Loyzaga. Acuzar was replaced by his Undersecretary, Jose Ramon Aliling, while former Energy Secretary Raphael Lotilla took the place of Loyzaga.

Asked why Acuzar was replaced, Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin said there is no corruption issue but the issue is one of underdelivery.

The directive followed what has been described as the crushing defeat of the President’s Senate bets in the last election, with only three of his 11 candidates winning, even as Marcos himself has also been hounded by low public trust and approval ratings.

Also suffering a similar fate was Yulo-Loyzaga, although according to Bersamin, it was due to perception, whether right or wrong, that she spent most of her time abroad.

Bersamin described the President as a manager implementing a reorganization, noting that it is only the President who can decide if his officials performed up to par or if they delivered on those promises or met the expectation that they had given or announced at the beginning.

Meanwhile, more heads are expected to roll after the Governance Commission for GOCCs  (GCG)ordered non-ex-officio chairpersons, chief executive officers and appointive members of the governing boards of the different government-owned or -controlled corporations to submit their courtesy resignations, which they have done. This is still part of the shakeup being done by the President in his administration with the aim of better serving the public and making his programs felt by the masses.

Only the performance of GOCC heads will be reviewed by his office, while the rest will be done by the GCG, Bersamin said.

Among those who have reportedly tendered their courtesy resignation is Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA) chairman and administrator Eduardo Jose Aliño.

According to SBMA locators and other stakeholders, Aliño’s courtesy resignation should clear the way not only for a thorough review of his performance, but also for an incisive financial audit starting Jan. 12, 2024, when he assumed his post.

This, of course, does not make him automatically suspect of any wrongdoing, they said, since there is simply a need to address issues being raised against him and his administration of SBMA.

It has been said that the complaints against Aliño involve mostly “underutilization of funds, thus preventing the SBMA from properly maintaining its facilities, attaining optimum manpower and security sufficiency and efficiency, enhancing the integrity of overall operations, enforcing effective anti-smuggling control measures, raising the bar of public service and boosting the morale of its entire workforce,” according to FB posts by a group named Subic Bay Freeport.

Issues raised against Aliño include middle managers being designated as OICs and volunteers since 1992 not being regularized up to now, insufficient number of law enforcers, weak anti-smuggling control measures, lack of duty traffic officers leading to vehicular congestion and neglect of open spaces and other facilities, including Subic International Airport.

In January of last year, then newly appointed Aliño announced SBMA’s record-breaking operating revenues of P4.12 billion in 2023, up by 1.5 percent from the previous year. This, of course, was achieved by Aliño’s predecessor, Jonathan Diogo Tan, who made SBMA rank among the top dividend contributors in 2023 before he was appointed DILG secretary, observers pointed out.

Meanwhile, the SBMA in April 2023, under former Olongapo City Mayor Rolen Paulino, had registered its highest monthly income of P415 million before he was succeeded by Tan.

But now, under Aliño and already approaching the end of the second quarter of 2025, there is still no official report on SBMA’s full-year 2024 operating revenues.

Does SBMA have enough money to achieve its mandate and perform its functions well? It is said that incomes derived from SBMA’s main functions – which include regulatory activities, leasing of lands and buildings, and seaport operations – have not been reported officially by Aliño, a matter that deserves a full-dress audit.

This goes for other GOCCs as well.

Real change needed

Meanwhile, the President has retained key members of his economic team.

There are those who criticized this decision by saying that they should be blamed for mangling the national budget.

This outrage is, however, highly misplaced since, according to observers, it is Congress which should be blamed.

They said that the President’s economic team was tasked with working with a flawed budget – one compromised by questionable priorities and one that favored political gains over genuine national development. Key programs such as universal healthcare and education were said to have been compromised in the process.

The result was a budget skewed toward patronage politics rather than national interest. And when the President’s ratings fell and the administration candidates in the midterm polls failed, the economic team was partly but wrongfully blamed.

No fiscal policy, no matter how well-designed, can compensate for a budget hijacked by political interests.

With a new Congress in place, it is about time for a leadership change. Perception matters, and if the President wants to change public perception, it is not only the executive branch but also the legislative branch that needs a revamp in its leadership.

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