Andy Bautista to head PCGG

MANILA, Philippines - President Aquino has appointed Far Eastern University law dean Juan Andres Bautista as chairman of the Presidential Commission on Good Government (PCGG) to replace Camilo Sabio, the Office of the Executive Secretary (OES) confirmed yesterday.

The OES also said retired Supreme Court associate justice Flerida Ruth Romero has been named member of the Truth Commission tasked to investigate anomalies involving former President and now Pampanga Rep. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, her family and allies.

Former Pangasinan Rep. Urdaneta City Mayor Amadeo Perez Jr. has been appointed chairman of the Manila Economic and Cultural Office overseeing trade relations between Manila and Taipei, with Manuel Dimaculangan as board member.

Dimaculangan was supposed to be joined by anti-crime and corruption advocate Teresita Ang See, but Executive Secretary Paquito Ochoa said Ang-See declined because of her involvement with a Chinese organization that could be in conflict with her appointment as MECO director.

Former Civil Service Commission head Karina David has been appointed member of the board of trustees of the Government Service Insurance System.

The President has also appointed former Trade secretary Juan Santos, a member of the Hyatt 10 or the group of Cabinet secretaries who resigned in 2005 to protest alleged poll fraud involving the Arroyo administration, as chairman of the Social Security System.

Santos was president of Nestle Philippines and director of the First Philippine Holdings Corp.

Jose Nuñez has been appointed Development Bank of the Philippines chairman, Francisco del Rosario Jr. as DBP president and chief executive officer, and Juan Kevin Belmonte and Antonio Periquet as DBP board members.

Nuñez was chairman of Asian Express Money Services Corp., a company engaged in foreign exchange dealership, money changing and global remittance business. Nuñez also served as official of various banks as well as a chief of staff of then House majority leader and San Juan Rep. Ronaldo Zamora.

Del Rosario, a trustee of the ABS-CBN Foundation and chairman of Habitat for Humanity-Philippines, previously served as president of Roxas Holdings, Inc. He was also defense undersecretary for finance.

Belmonte is a director of The Philippine STAR, while Periquet is managing director of Deutsche Regis Partners Inc.

Earlier, Mr. Aquino said he was considering Bautista to various positions because of his background, particularly his success as chief executive officer of the Kuok Group, a multinational company with holdings in various industries, including the Shangri-La chain of hotels.

Bautista, who earned his degree in Legal Management from the Ateneo de Manila University in 1986 and graduated class valedictorian from the Ateneo Law School in 1990, served as president of the Philippine Association of Law Schools. Bautista finished his Masters of laws from Harvard Law School.

Romero, on the other hand, has been appointed as the fourth member of the five-man Truth Commission headed by retired Supreme Court Chief Justice Hilario Davide Jr.

Romero, who served as judge at the International Labor Organization’s Administrative Tribunal, finished her law degree from the University of the Philippines and was a recipient of the 2000 The Outstanding Filipino Award in Law.

She will join retired SC associate justice Romeo Callejo Sr. and Ateneo Human Rights Center law professor Carlos Medina as commission members.

More appointees

Mr. Aquino has also appointed ABS-CBN Foundation Inc.’s Regina as chair of the Pasig River Rehabilitation Commission. Lopez has been mobilizing public and the private sector support for the Pasig River rehabilitation efforts through the “Kapit Bisig para sa Ilog Pasig” project.

Palawan Gov. Abraham Kahlil Mitra has been appointed chairman of the Palawan Council for Sustainable Development while Peter Tiangco has been reappointed administrator of the National Mapping and Resource Information Authority of the environment department.

Chief Presidential Legal Counsel Eduardo de Mesa said while Tiangco was considered a midnight appointee of the past administration, having taken his oath on March 25, Mr. Aquino deemed it proper to reappoint him as NAMRIA head.

Retired National Police director for Eastern Mindanao Felizardo Serapio Jr., a Philippine Legion of Honor awardee, has been appointed executive director of the Philippine Center for Transnational Crime while retired National Police deputy director Rex Piad, who was among those arrested in connection with the February 2006 coup attempt against the Arroyo administration but was released immediately, has been named special envoy for transnational crime.

Former Philippine Olympic Committee vice chair Geraldine Bernardo has been named Philippine Sports Commission executive director and Jose Luis Gomez as Philippine Sports Commission commissioner while Chito Cruz, a lawyer by profession, has been appointed general manager of the National Housing Authority.

Ochoa said the President has already accepted the resignation of Mindanao Development Authority chairman Jesus Dureza, who submitted his courtesy resignation last month despite being appointed to a post that carries a six-year fixed term.

Ochoa said a new MinDA chairman would be appointed to prevent a vacuum in the agency.

New members of the Cultural Center of the Philippines’ Board of Trustees Jaime Laya and Maria Cristina Turalba took their oaths yesterday along with other officials.

Presidential Communications Operations Office Secretary Herminio Coloma and PCOO Assistant Secretaries Elizardo de Layola and Renato Marfil were also sworn in.

Presidential Communications Development and Strategic Planning Office Secretary Ricky Carandang said he did not take his oath yet because he was waiting for the appointments of the other officials from his office to come out. “I want to be sworn in with them,” Carandang said.

Commission on Higher Education chair Patricia Licuanan, GSIS chairman Daniel Lacson, SSS president and chief executive officer Emilio de Quiros Jr. and SSS commissioner Diane Pardo-Aguilar also took their oaths along with other officials, including Department of Agrarian Reform Undersecretaries Antonio Parungao and Jerry Pacturan and Assistant Secretaries Maria Theresa Martinez, Herminia Fe San Juan and Mary Frances Pesayco Aquino; Department of Justice Assistant Secretaries Jacqueline Veloria Mejia and Geronimo Sy; Department of Tourism Assistant Secretaries Maria Victoria. Jasmin and Domingo Ramon Enerio.

Ma. Regina Martin, administrator, Sugar Regulatory Administration and Teofilo Abejo II, member, Toll Regulatory Board also took their oaths.