A dangerous, critical situation

As executive secretary in the Marcos administration, Lucas Bersamin was primus inter pares in the Cabinet, given the mandate of his office ~ "to directly assist the President in the management of affairs of the government as well as to direct the operations of the Executive Office.

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He was the "Little President," serving as gatekeeper, chief lieutenant, and main implementer of his boss' directives ~ the majordomo of the house, so to speak.

That was just days ago, when Bersamin was seemingly safely ensconced in his Palace seat, the President's trust in him never previously brought up as having become precarious. In September, former Public Works Undersecretary Roberto Bernardo had alleged that Bersamin was among several government officials who received kickbacks from flood control projects. The whirlwind of scandal that President Marcos had triggered with his original tirade in his State of the Nation Address against corrupt private contractors and Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) officials had now reached the Palace walls, and its official caretaker was being swept up in the gale.