A Historical Comparison
During the early years of the Philippine Republic, the Secretary of Foreign Affairs (SECFORAF) was regarded as the “first among equals,” mirroring the United States model.
The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) was the first department formed, its head sat atop the protocol list, and foreign affairs carried enormous weight in post-war diplomacy.
But over time, the Executive Secretary (ES) gradually eclipsed the SECFORAF, largely because Presidents found it more efficient to centralize power in a single trusted figure within the Palace.
Compare that to the US system, where the President continues to deal directly with Cabinet members—with the Chief of Staff merely facilitating, not filtering, authority.
Succession Differences Matter
US presidential succession includes:
1. Vice President
2. Speaker of the House
3. Senate President Pro Tempore
4. Secretary of State
In the Philippines, only:
1. Vice President
2. Senate President
3. Speaker of the House
The ES and the SECFORAF are nowhere in the line.
Yet we treat the ES as if he were a constitutional pillar.
Ironically, the US Secretary of State is legally and politically far more powerful than our DFA Secretary—yet our ES, with no department, often wields more internal authority than both.
Lessons and Questions
This raises important questions:
* Has too much authority been informally delegated to the ES?
* Would our system benefit if Cabinet secretaries dealt more directly with the President?
* Should the ES be limited strictly to administrative coordination, as originally intended?
* Should we revisit the structure of Malacañang to clarify lines of authority?
* Did former President Duterte’s creation of a “Cabinet Secretary” (headed by Leoncio Evasco) reflect an effort to rebalance power — or further complicate it?
The US model keeps administrative coordination (Chief of Staff) and executive leadership (Cabinet secretaries) clearly separate.
The Philippine model increasingly blends the two—creating institutional ambiguity and political dependency.
The Bottom Line
The White House Chief of Staff is powerful, but not a Cabinet member.
The Malacañang Executive Secretary is a Cabinet member, and often treated as the most powerful one.
One is a gatekeeper.
The other has become, over time, a shadow prime minister—without the title, without the mandate, and without constitutional grounding.
The question now is simple:
Is this the system we want, or is it time to realign our governance structures with clearer, more accountable roles?
And what does the revival of the Cabinet Secretary position mean now?/PN
