The Office of the Executive Secretary of the

Philippines The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...

(formerly the Executive Office) is the head and highest-ranking official of the

Office of the President of the Philippines The Office of the President of the Philippines (OP; ) is an administrative, advisory, and consultative government agency that aids the president of the Philippines in performing their duty as head of state and chief of the executive branch of g ...

and a member of the

Cabinet of the Philippines The Cabinet of the Philippines (, usually referred to as the Cabinet or Gabinete) consists of the heads of the largest part of the executive branch of the national government of the Philippines. Currently, it includes the secretaries of Executi ...

. The office-holder has been nicknamed as the "''Little President''" due to the nature and mandate of the position "to directly assist the President in the management of affairs of the government as well as to direct the operations of the Executive Office." It is headed by the executive secretary in which appointed by the

president President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television *'' Præsident ...

upon confirmation by the

Commission on Appointments The Commission on Appointments (, abbreviated as CA) is a constitutional body which confirms or rejects certain political appointments made by the President of the Philippines. The current commission was created by the 1987 Constitution. Whil ...

. The office was established on October 12, 1936, with

Jorge B. Vargas Jorge Bartolomé Vargas y Celis (August 24, 1890 – February 22, 1980) was a Filipino lawyer, diplomat and youth advocate born in Bago, Negros Occidental, Philippines. He graduated valedictorian from Negros Occidental High School in 1909 an ...

as the inaugural holder. The postion of executive secretary is currently held by former Chief Justice Lucas Bersamin, who retained his position after President

Bongbong Marcos Ferdinand "Bongbong" Romualdez Marcos Jr. (, , ; born September 13, 1957), commonly referred to by the initials BBM or PBBM, is a Filipino politician who has served as the 17th president of the Philippines since 2022. He is the second child ...

declined his courtesy resignation following a cabinet reshuffle in the aftermath of the 2025 Philippine general election.https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/2062993/bersamin-marcos-declined-my-courtesy-resignation

Powers and duties

In Book III, Chapter 9, Section 27 of Executive Order No. 292, the Administrative Code of the Philippines, the role of the Executive Secretary was defined as: The executive secretary possesses so much power since the holder of the office is the chief alter-ego of the president of the Philippines, the chief executive. The executive secretary can issue orders in the name of the president, can review and modify decisions of other cabinet secretaries on appeal and can perform numerous other functions as allowed or delegated by the chief executive. The executive secretary, can also be the top coordinator of the activities of the executive branch of the government, if necessary.

List of executive secretaries

References

{{Executive Departments of the Philippines

Office of the President of the Philippines