President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has removed the Vice President and several former presidents as members of the National Security Council (NSC).
Marcos through Executive Order Number 81 removed Vice President Sara Duterte and former presidents Joseph Estrada, Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and Rodrigo Duterte as members of the NSC.
Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin said the vice president is no longer considered significant in the responsibilities of the NSC.
The secretary emphasized that the President has the power to add a member or advisers to the NSC if it is needed.
It is not the first time that a president has ordered the restructuring of the agency and to further strengthen the security of the country.
Former presidents Corazon Aquino, Fidel V. Ramos and Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo also did the same in their respective regimes but the vice president and former presidents were not removed as members.
Prior to this, Vice President Duterte questioned the Marcos administration why she was not invited in the meetings of the NSC despite being technically a member of the said council.
It can be recalled that the NSC condemned the vice president when she allegedly said she hired an assassin to kill President Marcos, First Lady Liza Marcos and House Speaker Martin Romualdez.
The vice president made the statement on the context that it will only happen if she herself gets killed first.
Abner is an award-winning journalist. He received the prestigious 2015 Titus Brandsma Award for Community Communication in the Philippines and participated in the 2016 International Visitor Leadership Program (IVLP) of the United States of America, sponsored by the US Embassy in the Philippines. Founder of WATCH NORTH COTABATO, a media-citizens’ transparency group. He worked as a correspondent for the Philippine Daily Inquirer and CNN Philippines. His experience in broadcasting includes anchoring for Brigada News FM in Kidapawan and General Santos City and Brigada News TV. He anchors Tira Brigada via 105.1 Brigada News FM Manila, Mondays-Saturdays.