Ex-DSWD chief Taguiwalo: Retired military as DSWD head ill-fit, unconstitutional

Former Social Welfare secretary Judy Taguiwalo has warned against the impending appointment of retiring Philippine Army chief Lieutenant General Rolando Bautista as DSWD head, claiming a military personnel is ill-fit to do social development work and illegal.

Taguiwalo was referring to the announcement at that Bautista will assume the post of DSWD chief when he retires on October 15.

“Social welfare principles include upholding the dignity of individuals and respecting their rights. Hence, a strong emphasis on people’s participation in the crafting and execution of the agency’s programs is a given. The Philippine Army’s principal mission is 'organize, train and equip' for the conduct of prompt and sustained combat operations on land. This is diametrically opposed to the mission of DSWD,” Taguiwalo said on her Facebook post.

“Napakalayo naman [ng credentials ni Bautista sa pagiging DSWD Secretary]. You can't say, but he is retired. He is fresh from retirement, and you are talking here of years of military experience. Even during Martial Law, a member of the military was not appointed as DSWD chief. There were doctors of medicine, economist like [former President] Gloria Arroyo, but nobody from the military,”Taguiwalo told GMA News Online in a separate phone interview.

Taguiwalo, who briefly served as DSWD chief under the administration of President Rodrigo Duterte, stressed the a military member as a DSWD Secretary would run against the constitutional provision which states that “civilian authority is, at all times, supreme over the military.”

The 1987 Charter also reads “the Armed Forces of the Philippines is the protector of the people and the state” and its goal is “to secure the sovereignty of the state and the integrity of the national territory.”

“The DSWD Secretary is a civilian post that is mandated to provide welfare assistance to the most vulnerable and disadvantaged in our society. Under the present administration which has again and again violated the rule of law, the constitutional provision of civilian supremacy over the military is being thrown out of the window,” Taguiwalo said.

“We should oppose the militarization of the bureaucracy, including DSWD,” Taguiwalo added.

GMA News Online has reached out to presidential spokesperson Harry Roque and Armed Forces spokesperson Brigadier General Edgard Arevalo for their comments, but both officials have yet to reply as of posting time.

Taguiwalo lost her post as DSWD chief in August 2017 when the Commission on Appointments, a panel composed of lawmakers which evaluates Presidential appointments, rejected her appointment. 

Prior to offering the DSWD Cabinet post to Bautista, Duterte also offered the National Food Authority administrator post to the retiring Army chief.

Among former military officers serving under the Duterte administration include: former Armed Forces chief Roy Cimatu (Environment chief), ex-AFP chief Rey Leonardo Guerrero (Maritime Industry Authority head), ex-military chief Eduardo Año who is the officer-in-charge for the Department of the Interior and Local Government, former general Delfin Lorenzana (Defense chief), ex-AFP chief Hermogenes Esperson (National Security Adviser), former soldiers Undersecretary Nicanor Faeldon of the Office of Civil Defense, Assistant Director Milo Maestrecampo of the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines, Director Gerardo Gambala of the Office of Transportation Security, chairman Danilo Lim of the Metro Manila Development Authority. — RSJ, GMA News