Memorandum Circular No. 21




MALACAÑAN PALACE MANILA BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE PHILIPPINES [ MEMORANDUM CIRCULAR NO. 21, May 18, 2023 ] ENSURING EFFICIENCY IN PROCESSING OF REQUESTS FOR PRESIDENTIAL ISSUANCES, AUTHORIZATION, AND OTHER APPROVALS In the interest of efficiency in processing of requests for Presidential issuances, authorizations, and other approvals, the following are hereby ordered: 1. Government agencies and instrumentalities shall ensure strict compliance with the strengthened standards of Complete Staff Work (CSW), pursuant to Memoranda Circular Nos. 72 (s. 2019) and 02 (s. 2022). Proposals or requests for Presidential issuances, authorizations, and other approvals shall be embodied in a Memorandum, which shall contain a concise statement of the background/history of the request, justification and/or rationale, legal basis, agency coordination, potential problems, and fund availability. A printed draft of the action document or proposed issuance requested from the OP, along with an edible electronic copy, and copies of comments and/or recommendations signed or endorsed by Department Secretaries or Heads of Agencies concerned, together with a statement by the proponent that the necessary coordination or consultations were made with other relevant government entities, shall be attached to the cover Memorandum. Requests that fail to comply with the strengthened standards of CSW shall be returned to the proponent.ℒαwρhi৷ 2. Government agencies and instrumentalities, whose inputs, comments and/or recommendations are requested by the Office of the Executive Secretary (OES), or Office of the Senior Deputy Executive Secretary (OSDES), Office of the Deputy Executive Secretary for General Administration (ODESGA), Office of the Deputy Executive Secretary for Legal Affairs (ODESLA), Office of the Deputy Secretary of Finance and Administration (ODESFA), and Presidential Management Staff (PMS) shall respond to the request within the period prescribed by the aforementioned offices. 2.1 In case of failure to respond within the prescribed period, and upon proof of receipt of the request for comment, the department, agency, bureau, or office whose comment was sought shall be considered as having interposed no objection to the proposal or position of the proponent. 2.2 If the department, agency, bureau, or office could not comply within the prescribed period due to lack of available data or that the proposal consists of voluminous records, and such other meritorious reasons, it shall notify in writing the OES, OSDES, ODESGA, ODESLA, ODESFA, or PMS, as the case may be. 3. As may be requested by the OES, OSDES, ODESGA, ODESLA, ODESFA, or PMS, government agencies and instrumentalities shall participate in any and all coordination meetings or briefings relative to a particular request. 4. This Circular shall take effect immediately. DONE, in the City of Manila, this 18th day of May, in the year of our Lord, Two Thousand and Twenty-Three. By authority the President: (SGD.) LUCAS P. BERSAMIN Executive Secretary The Lawphil Project - Arellano Law Foundation