Executive Secretary (Philippines)


The Office of the Executive Secretary of the Philippines is the head and highest-ranking official of the Office of the President of the Philippines and a member of the Cabinet of the Philippines.
The office-holder has been nicknamed as the "Little President" due to the nature and mandate of the position "to directly assist the President in the management of affairs of the government as well as to direct the operations of the Executive Office." It is headed by the executive secretary in which appointed by the president upon confirmation by the Commission on Appointments.
The office was established on October 12, 1936, with Jorge B. Vargas as the inaugural holder.
The position of executive secretary is currently held by former Finance Secretary Ralph Recto.
WWW president.gov.ph

Powers and duties

In Book III, Chapter 9, Section 27 of Executive Order No. 292, the Administrative Code of the Philippines, the role of the Executive Secretary was defined as:
The executive secretary possesses so much power since the holder of the office is the chief alter-ego of the president of the Philippines, the chief executive. The executive secretary can issue orders in the name of the president, can review and modify decisions of other cabinet secretaries on appeal and can perform numerous other functions as allowed or delegated by the chief executive. The executive secretary, can also be the top coordinator of the activities of the executive branch of the government, if necessary.