What’s in a number? Not much, says Palace

OOPS! Somebody goofed, but who reads Roman numerals anyway.

Malacañang on Tuesday admitted the first executive order issued by President Duterte had a mistake in it, which Executive Secretary Salvador Medialdea quickly played down, describing it as a mere “clerical error.”

“It has been corrected. It was just a clerical error,” Medialdea said in a text message to the Inquirer.

Executive Order (EO) No. 1 titled “Reengineering the Office of the President Towards Greater Responsiveness to the Attainment of Development Goals” was signed by President Duterte on June 30, the day he took office. Copies were released to Malacañang reporters on Tuesday.

The EO realigns 12 agencies that address food security and poverty issues under Cabinet Secretary Leoncio Evasco Jr. The agencies used to be under the Office of the President.

The EO also gives Mr. Duterte’s longtime aide, Christopher “Bong” Go, control of the Presidential Management Staff, Office of the Appointments Secretary, and the newly created Events Management Cluster.

Asked if EO 1 should be rescinded and refiled, Medialdea said: “No need because it was a typo error in the ‘whereas clause’ and not in the body of the EO.”