Aquino swears in new officials

MANILA, Philippines -  President Aquino swore in yesterday retired Armed Forces vice chief Lt. Gen. Nestor Ochoa and Ambassador Evelyn Austria-Garcia as Philippine ambassadors to Brunei Darussalam and to the Czech Republic, respectively.

Garcia has been posted to Kuala Lumpur, The Hague, the Philippine Mission to the United Nations in New York, and Paris.

Aquino also swore in former Camiguin governor and lawyer Antonio Gallardo as presidential legislative assistant for the Senate, investment banking analyst Karen Singson as Department of Finance chief privatization officer at the Privatization and Management Office and retired brigadier general Triunfo Agustin as chairman of the board of directors of the Department of National Defense-Philippine Veterans Investment Development Corp.-Industrial Authority (PHIVIDEC-IA).

The others who took their oaths were Leo Tereso Magno as administrator and member of the board of directors of the PHIVIDEC-IA; and Romeo Alamillo, Vicente Buenaventura, Cesar Pobre and Jose Castellano Lapus as members of the board of directors.

Gallardo was awarded as one of the 10 Outstanding Governors of the Philippines in 1992, served as president of the Integrated Bar of the Philippines from 1975 to 1977 and as chief of staff of then Senate president and now Sen. Franklin Drilon from 2003 to 2007. He finished his Bachelor of Laws at the University of the Philippines in 1971.

Singson has a master’s degree in business administration at the Harvard Business School in the United States and worked in various companies also in America.

Agustin was a member of the Philippine Military Academy (PMA) Class ’60 and had taken various positions in the Philippine National Police (PNP) and the defunct Philippine Constabulary.

The President also administered the oaths of office of 20 new government officials including former Central Bank governor Jose Cuisia Jr. as Philippine ambassador to the United States in ceremonies at Malacañang’s Rizal Hall.

The Chief Executive signed Cuisia’s appointment papers in December 2010 to replace outgoing Ambassador Willy Gaa.

The President also swore in former Philippine ambassador to Canada Jose Brillantes as Foreign Affairs undersecretary for special and ocean concerns.

Brillantes was Philippine ambassador to Malaysia from 1996 to 2002 and had served in various capacities in Philippine diplomatic missions in Ottawa, Germany and Washington.

Ambassador Bienvenido Tejano, the seventh Philippine ambassador to New Zealand, was sworn in as the new ambassador to the Independent State of Papua New Guinea.

Other officials who also took their oaths of office included Florencia Dorotan and Patrocino Jude Esguerra III as undersecretaries of the National Anti-Poverty Commission, Nabil Tan as undersecretary at the Office of the President, Gina Cantano-de la Cruz and Lila Shahani as assistant secretaries also at the Office of the President.

Lawyer Bienvenido Benitez was also sworn in as member of the board of directors of the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority representing the national government and Nathaniel Servando as acting administrator of the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration.