MANILA, Philippines — Senate Minority Leader Franklin Drilon raised fears that assigning Cabinet secretaries to Metro Manila cities and several other provinces to support their pandemic response could lead to the overstepping of authority. In a statement Friday, Drilon reminded Cabinet members tasked to act as “big brothers” to the local government units (LGUs) of the constitutional principles of local and fiscal autonomy. National Task Force on COVID-19 chief implementer Carlito Galvez Jr. earlier said the Cabinet members assigned will act as “big brothers” and “big sisters” and harmonize the policies being implemented. Drilon noted that the term “big brother” was coined by author George Orwell in his 1949 fiction novel titled “1984,” which refers to the supreme authority in a totalitarian society. “Is the ‘Big Brother is watching us’ the new normal?” he said, stressing that the Constitution vests the President with the power of supervision, and not control, over LGUs.

Source: Philippine Daily Inquirer August 14, 2020 07:18 UTC