Bong Revilla named VRB chief

Action star Bong Revilla has been appointed by President Arroyo as the new head of the government unit that monitors piracy in the video industry.

Revilla, Ramon Bautista Jr. in real life, was appointed chairman of the Videogram Regulatory Board (VRB) on May 30. How-ever, Malacañang made a statement on the appointment available to the press yesterday.

The appointment came at a time the President tried to convince Revilla’s father, Sen. Ramon Revilla, to remain with the Senate bloc that supports her administration. Last month during the sudden reorganization in the Senate, Mrs. Arroyo’s spokesman acknowledged that she had called the elder Revilla in the United States, where the ailing senator was recuperating from spinal surgery.

Mrs. Arroyo has also appointed Marilen Dinglasan the chairwoman of the Movie and Television Classification Board. Dinglasan succeeds Alejandro Roces, the 76-year-old columnist of the Philippine STAR.

Roces will join the board of directors of the government-run Postal Savings Bank, said acting Press Secretary Silvestre Afable.

The young Revilla was also a former Cavite governor and friend of Jinggoy Estrada, a former mayor of San Juan and son of jailed President Joseph Estrada. He took part in the EDSA II rally last year that resulted in the fall of Estrada’s government. He lost in his re-election bid for Cavite governor in May 2001.

Mrs. Arroyo has been quoted as saying that Revilla could help his friends in the film industry by taking the leadership at the VRB, which has been blamed for most of the problems in the film industry.

Revilla took over from Lualhati Buenafe, who has been demoted to vice chairman. — Marichu Villanueva