Marcos to issue new EO on Mandanas ruling at yearend

President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. said Friday that he would come up with a new and “good” executive order about the implementation of the Mandanas ruling.

Marcos said he is aiming to strengthen the coordination and partnership between the local and the national government.

“You are not working in a vacuum,” Marcos said at the 4th General Assembly of the League of Provinces of the Philippines (LPP) in Pampanga.

“We are watching, we are asking, we are consulting with you. And in that way, we will come out with a good Executive Order at the end of the year for a good implementation of the very important Supreme Court decision now we call the Mandanas-Garcia ruling,” he added.

The Marcos administration has since reviewed the Executive Order No. 138, which was issued to support the efficient implementation of the Supreme Court ruling and strengthen the autonomy and empowerment of the local government units.

Issued by former President Rodrigo Duterte, the said EO directs the full devolution of certain functions of the executive branch to the LGUs.

“We gave ourselves until the end of the year 2023 – until the end of this year. And I will sign another executive order putting into place all – and defining very clearly which of the services, which of the functions belong to the local government and which belong to the national government,” Marcos said.

Marcos further assured the local officials that they will continue to have an exchange of ideas and see the practical considerations.

“That is what we are trying to calibrate now – how do we do that so that the local governments are able to perform their functions and are able to provide the services to their constituents that are expected and that are mandated by the Local Government Code,” Marcos said.

Marcos expressed confidence that local government officials would be able to perform well as they know the real situation in their respective jurisdictions. —VAL, GMA Integrated News