Palace ensures unhampered gov’t services amid transition

MANILA – President Rodrigo Duterte has signed an administrative order creating (AO) a Presidential Transition Committee (PTC) to oversee the transition of power to the next administration and ensure the unhampered delivery of services to the public.

Under Administrative Order No. 47, signed by Duterte on May 10, all departments, bureaus, and instrumentalities of government are directed to create their own internal transition committees which will support the PTC in overseeing the proper turnover of projects and continuous operation of their offices during the transition period.

The AO states the PTC will be chaired by Executive Secretary Salvador Medialdea.

Other members of the transition committee are Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr., Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III, Budget Undersecretary Tina Rose Marie Canda, and Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Karl Chua.

“We will work closely with the representatives of the incoming administration to ensure a peaceful and orderly transfer of power,” Medialdea said in a prerecorded meeting with Duterte and other Cabinet members aired Thursday.

Medialdea said that official talks among members of the PTC will be put on hold until the next president is officially declared.

“Since we still have no proclaimed winner, official talks need to be put on hold for the moment, but preparation on our end needs to begin. We, after all, have more work to do,” he added.

He assured that the PTC would ensure a “smooth and seamless transition while ensuring the continued and efficient delivery of public service.”

“We assure the public that within the coming weeks, the entire executive branch will continue to perform and dispense with its duties but ready to turn over the reigns to the next president,” he said.

Duterte, for his part, said he would call for a meeting with members of the PTC to discuss the impact of the Russia-Ukraine crisis on the Philippines.

“It would be good for us to meet…select members of the committee or maybe lahat (all). We should have about one or two meetings dahil dito sa fallout sa (because of the fallout in) Ukraine,” he said.

The ongoing war between the two countries would push up international prices of food and fuel, which would hurt consumers and economic growth, according to the World Bank.