There is reportedly no Administrative Order 1 creating the Office of the Presidential Chief of Staff for resigned Executive Secretary Vic Rodriguez.

This, according to a report by veteran broadcaster Anthony Taberna, in his social media program "Uncutunying" on 30 September.

Quoting newly-appointed Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin, Taberna said the former replied "Yes" to his text message that read "No more AO 1?"

Bersamin's reply to Taberna corroborated the statement of former Presidential spokesperson, Atty. Harry Roque, in his Facebook vlog "The Spox Hour" on 29 September, said AO 1 did not get the approval of President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos.

"I have not heard any news that AO 1 has been signed. If at all, I heard that the President did not approve AO 1," Roque said in Filipino.

Since Mr. Marcos' return from his 6-day United States trip on 18 September, reporters were agog at the AO 1 that Press Secretary Trixie Cruz-Angeles, in an earlier press statement, said was already signed by the Chief Executive.

Several online verifications through the Official Gazette — the official journal of the Republic of the Philippines — showed no AO 1 posted on its website.

Roque said AO 1 runs against the President's policy of rightsizing the bureaucracy instead of expanding it.

"This is why TESDA (Technical Education and Skills Development Authority) is no longer a separate Cabinet position, it is now under DoLE. They are streamlining the different agencies of the government," he said.

He added that it would be inconsistent to create another office because there is already the Office of the Executive Secretary.

He shared Chief Presidential Legal Counsel Juan Ponce Enrile's opinion that OPCOS is duplicitous and redundant.

"The power of the Chief of Staff under AO 1 is the same as that of the Executive Secretary," Roque added. "Work and power are the same except that the PCS will not go through the confirmation process."