The Manila Times

Victor Rodriguez: Big tasks await ‘Little President’

BY CATHERINE S. VALENTE

INCOMING Executive Secretary Victor Rodriguez pledged to ensure that the national policies and the direction of President-elect Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. will be implemented during his watch.

The executive secretary is often referred to as the “Little President” but the task is no little as he will set the Palace’s bureaucratic process in motion.

When he was handpicked by the president-elect for the post, Rodriguez said he could not say no to the man who he holds in high regard.

As executive secretary, he will assist the President in managing the vast government bureaucracy so that it will be aligned with the chief executive’s vision of a better Philippines for Filipinos.

At the same time, he will play the critical role of fleshing out the President’s pronouncements and initiatives into state issuances and formal directives that can be implemented by departments and agencies.

“As the incoming Executive Secretary, the objective has been and always will be the faithful execution and performance of the mandate of the Office of the Executive Secretary. The plans would always be dependent on the policy of the President,” Rodriguez told The Manila Times.

At this point, Rodriguez said the focus is “to foster unity, harmony and coordination in all the agencies of the government for the Filipinos to benefit from after having come from the most recent divisive democratic activity of the country — the national elections.”

“We have been promoting unity since the proclamation by choosing competent and willing leaders to lead the different agencies in the Executive Department regardless of political color and affiliation. It is our goal to continuously adapt measures that will ensure coordination amongst government agencies with interrelated or correlated functions,” he said.

Because the country is still grappling with the Covid-19 pandemic, Rodriguez sees the need to give reviving the economy “high priority and focus.”

Marcos’ policy directive of implementing ease of doing business and making suitable cost-effective measures in the government projects and programs, including streamlining the bureaucracy, should also be addressed with urgency, he added.

Rodriguez was part of Marcos’ transition committee, and his first assignment was to help the President-elect build his Cabinet.

His long association with Marcos is one of the assets that will be crucial to his standing in the Palace hierarchy.

“I have been in the private law practice from admission to the bar and have been serving the president even prior to his candidacy as vice president in 2016,” he said.

Rodriguez served as Marcos’ chief of staff and spokesman and was highly regarded for the candidate’s successful campaign.

“Who can say no to President-elect Bongbong Marcos? It is an honor working with him, whom I have known for a very long time, and I believe will serve the country efficiently and with unquestioned devotion. It is very flattering to work alongside the best person I’ve known,” Rodriguez said on May 22, following his nomination as executive secretary.

“I thank President-elect Bongbong Marcos for the trust and confidence. Rest assured that our team will work doubly hard for the success of his six-year presidency,” he added.

The 48-year-old Rodriguez dedicated much of his professional life to private law practice.

He is the managing partner of Rodriguez & Partners, a law firm which he established in 2003.

The veteran law practitioner is the current president of the Quezon City Trial Lawyers League, former Deputy General Counsel of Integrated Bar of the Philippines and most recently served as treasurer of the University of Santo Tomas Law Alumni Foundation Inc.

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2022-06-30T07:00:00.0000000Z

2022-06-30T07:00:00.0000000Z

https://digitaledition.manilatimes.net/article/282355453433154

The Manila Times