Former Angeles mayor appointed NHA chief

ANGELES CITY — A former mayor of this city who actively led a movement for the ouster of deposed President Joseph Estrada has been named general manager of the National Housing Authority (NHA) by President Arroyo.

Former Mayor Edgardo Pamintuan now faces the daunting task of providing housing for thousands of displaced families nationwide, including those in lahar-devastated Pampanga.

"The resettlement program for no less than 6,000 families displaced by Mt. Pinatubo is now in my lap," Pamintuan said. "But there are many other problems that I have to solve, especially in war-torn Mindanao where scores have remained homeless."

Pamintuan said Senior Deputy Executive Secretary Victoria Garchitorena has asked him to study the feasibility of shipping into the country some P100 million worth of pre-fabricated housing materials earlier donated by Japan.

"I have to find out whether or not shipping the donations would cost more than the actual items that were donated," he said.

Pamintuan said he has talked with outgoing NHA chief Angelo Leynes to arrange for his retention at the agency for other tasks.

"Mr. Leynes is a highly competent person and I think he will be a great help to me in the agency," he said.

The former mayor said he still has to familiarize himself with the current programs and projects of the NHA before he comes out with more specific plans for lahar-displaced families in Pampanga and other parts of Central Luzon.

He pointed out that the NHA is likely to assume jurisdiction over the resettlement of families in the province following the abolition of the Mt. Pinatubo Commission last December.

Pamintuan, a lawyer, was designated acting mayor of this city when Corazon Aquino became president in 1986. In 1992, he was elected mayor, a post he held until 1998. He ran for congressman the same year but lost to Francis Nepomuceno.

Pamintuan, the secretary general of the ruling Lakas party in Pampanga, was one of the founders of the Coalition for the Ouster of Erap that actively participated in the EDSA protests last January.