MANILA, Philippines - President Aquino yesterday swore in Zenaida Monsada as secretary of energy and Benjamin Caguioa as secretary of justice.
Monsada was named officer-in-charge of the Department of Energy in place of Jericho Petilla who had resigned to prepare for his Senate candidacy.
On Oct. 20, Aquino issued her ad interim appointment.
Caguioa took the place of Leila de Lima, who had also resigned early this month to run for the Senate.
He was previously chief presidential legal counsel.
In a text message to reporters, Monsada said: “I am greatly honored to be given this task to lead the Department of Energy, which I’ve been serving for 36 years.
“The DOE will continue to do its part of serving the Filipino people beyond the needs for power but also for all energy needs of the country, be it on fuels, renewable energy, energy conservation, among others.”
Monsada, the first woman secretary of energy,is the 12th to occupy the post after the Marcos era.
She is a career official, who now becomes a political appointee coterminous with Aquino.
She had wanted to be named OIC, not acting secretary or secretary, so she could retain her rank as career official, Malacañang said.
Monsada is a licensed chemist, who led the setting up of the national petroleum testing facility at the DOE.
She is currently working on setting up a mobile monitoring and testing facility.
Monsada received her bachelor’s and master’s degrees in Chemistry from the University of San Carlos in Cebu City and the University of the Philippines in Diliman, Quezon City. She also took up special studies in petroleum management in Stavanger, Norway and Boston, Massachusetts. – Aurea Calica, Danessa Rivera