Local Legislators' Toolkit - The Sangguniang Panlalawigan ng ...

E. SETTING UP THE OFFICE OF THE SECRETARYImagine a sanggunian without a secretary or staff. Who will take the minutes of sessions?Who will prepare documents needed in the session? Who will assist members in draftingordinances? Who will invite participants to the committee hearing? Who will ensure thatordinances are transmitted to the local chief executive for action? All these things and moreare the responsibilities of the secretary to the sanggunian.<strong>The</strong> question is: must the secretary do all these things by himself/herself? <strong>The</strong> answer is“no” if the mission of the sanggunian is to produce effective local legislation. Hence, acritical step in getting the sanggunian organized is setting up the Office of the Secretary,which is a key factor to ensuring the efficiency of the legislative process.<strong>The</strong> Office of the Secretary to the Sanggunian• is composed of the secretary and staff responsible for providing technical andadministrative services necessary in legislative work; and• is headed by the secretary to the sanggunian who is appointed by the vicegovernor/vice mayor.Ideally, the secretary to the sanggunian acts as a manager with a team of technical andadministrative staff under his/her supervision to provide timely and relevant support to assistsanggunian members in performing their multiple roles.<strong>The</strong> following tools can help the sanggunian in setting up the Office of the Secretary:Tool 1 -Tool 2 -Checklist: Duties of the Secretary to the SanggunianSample Organizational Chart of the Sanggunian69