P-Noy appoints Sarmiento as new Pagcor president

MANILA, Philippines - President Aquino has appointed lawyer Jorge Sarmiento as president and chief operating officer of the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. (Pagcor) and swore in 14 other appointees to different departments and agencies.

Sarmiento, a former deputy commissioner of the National Telecommunications Commission, replaced Rafael Francisco as Pagcor head.

Sarmiento, brother of Commission on Elections commissioner Rene Sarmiento, previously served as immigration deputy commissioner; postmaster general of the Philippine Postal Corp.; and Presidential Commission on Good Government commissioner.

Sworn in were new Maritime Industry Authority administrator Emerson Lorenzo, Philippine Ports Authority (PPA) general manager Juan Sta. Ana., and Estela Sales, deputy commissioner for Legal and Inspection Group, Bureau of Internal Revenue.

Other appointees who took their oaths were Jose Vicente Salazar, Department of Justice undersecretary; Aristotle Batuhan, Glicerio Sicat and Dante Velasco, Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC) undersecretaries; Manuel Garay Imperial, acting executive director, Toll Regulatory Board; Carmello Arcilla, acting executive director, Civil Aeronautics Board; Ildefonso Patdu Jr., acting assistant secretary, DOTC; Raul Santos, assistant general manager, PPA; Tomas Carlos, assistant general manager, PPA; and Mabel Mamba, member, board of director, Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office.

Mr. Aquino also administered the oaths of the members of the League of Cities of the Philippines in Malacañang.

Familiar face

Santa Ana assumed the top post of the PPA yesterday after the turnover from his predecessor Oscar Sevilla.

Santa Ana, an executive at FF Cruz and Co., one of the country’s largest construction firms and one of PPA’s contractors in various projects including the construction of its head office in Manila and several other ports, vowed to continue the agency’s privatization thrust.

He is not new in the PPA, having served as the agency’s assistant general manager during the time of former President Fidel Ramos.

Professional programs

Former Miriam College president Dr. Patricia Licuanan also formally assumed the chairmanship of the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) yesterday.

Licuanan told The STAR in a phone interview that topping her agenda as CHED chief is the improvement of the quality of the higher education curriculum, particularly professional programs whose graduates undergo licensure examinations of the Professional Regulation Commission (PRC).

Licuanan said President Aquino had clearly expressed his concern over the quality of several professional programs such as nursing, law, accountancy, maritime education, and teacher education.

“We have a lot of things to do, fast. There are so many major problems,” Licuanan said.

Licuanan took over the top CHED post from Emmanuel Angeles, who was appointed by former president and now Pampanga Rep. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo in August 2008. – With Rainier Allan Ronda