(UPDATE) MALACAÑANG on Tuesday hit back at the spokesmen of former president Rodrigo Duterte for their criticisms regarding President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s decision to reorganize the National Security Council (NSC).
Former chief presidential legal counsel and spokesman Salvador Panelo had said that Marcos’ move that effectively removed Vice President Sara Duterte from the NSC through Executive Order 81 “smacks of bad politics.”
Another former Palace official, Harry Roque, has alleged that the reorganization is “a prelude to martial law” — a claim immediately shot down by Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin.
Former chief presidential legal counsel and spokesman Salvador Panelo. PHOTO BY JOHN ORVEN VERDOTE
Panelo, Bersamin asserted, “has no moral authority to question the decision of the President” as he had advocated for the removal of then-vice president Leni Robredo from the advisory body.
Bersamin claimed that during the Duterte administration, he read an article about Panelo’s efforts not to give Robredo any position in the Cabinet.
“I read something that reminded me that Panelo, during his time as presidential adviser, advocated the exclusion of then vice president Leni Robredo [from the Cabinet],” Bersamin said at a press briefing in Malacañang. “So, he has no moral authority to question the decision of President Marcos.”
He further noted that the NSC serves as an advisory body to Marcos in his capacity as Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, and it is only fitting that “whoever advises him is within his fullest trust and confidence.”
“Now, I’m not saying that the Vice President does not anymore deserve to be trusted. But I’m just saying that with the recent developments, it is not going to be good advice or good action on the part of the President to still have her on board. Now, anyway, the President has the absolute power, the power of absolute reorganization — meaning, he can choose the people he listens to or he would listen to,” Bersamin said.
Meanwhile, Bersamin deemed as “malicious” Roque’s comment that tweaking the NSC is the President’s way of doing a “take two” of martial law like his late father Marcos Sr.
“You know, if you keep on thinking that [way], that’s malicious because the Constitution is very clear on when a president may declare martial law. I don’t think it is in the mind of the President right now,” the Palace executive said.
“What he has in mind is the economic prosperity of the country, the health and welfare of the people, especially those of the lower classes, and the prioritization of his legacy projects. The President accepts that as the number one concern. It’s not about martial law, it’s not about extending himself in power. No, he has not been thinking about that. He does not even think in those terms. Mr. Harry Roque is just being malicious,” he added.
The NSC is the principal advisory body coordinating and integrating plans and policies relating to, or on matters that have implications on national security.
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