New SSS chief Aurora Ignacio appointed

MANILA, Philippines — President Duterte has appointed Aurora Ignacio as president and chief executive officer of the state-run Social Security System (SSS).

Duterte signed Ignacio’s appointment on March 28, a day before the election ban on appointments took effect.

Ignacio will replace former SSS president and CEO Emmanuel Dooc, who resigned last March.

Dooc’s term as SSS chief has expired under Republic Act 11199 or the Social Security Act.

Ignacio was initially appointed as officer-in-charge of the SSS during a board meeting on March 13, which was presided over by social security chairman and Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez.

Prior to her appointment, Ignacio was the first woman who chaired the Social Security Commission, the policymaking body of the state fund.

Ignacio was former assistant secretary for special projects under the Office of the President.

In 2017, she was designated by Malacañang as the government’s focal person for anti-drug programs.

Ignacio also served as member of the Dangerous Drugs Board and the Task Force on the Establishment of Rehabilitation and Treatment Center for Drug Users.

On top of these, Ignacio was a council member of the National Food Authority.

The President signed the appoinment papers of 12 other officials to various posts.

Commission on Elections Resolution No. 10429 prohibits the appointment or hiring of new employees, creation or filling up of new posts and promotion or giving of salary increases, remuneration or privilege from March 29 to May 12.

Appointed on the eve of the election appointment ban were Monalisa Dimalanta, chairperson of the National Renewable Energy Board; Dennis Dagohoy, board member of the United Coconut Planters Life Assurance Corp.; Herminia Roman, board member of the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority, and Dexter Galban, board member of the Commission on Population and Development.

Also appointed were Trade Assistant Secretary Ann Claire Cabochan, Labor Director IV Brenalyn Peji, Education Director IV Anne Rachel Miguel, Education Director III Danilo Despi, Interior and Local Government Director III Yvette Sunga, Intellectual Property Office Director III Frederick Romero, Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources Director II Lilian Garcia and Bureau of Internal Revenue Director II Antonio Jaminola.

New post for Capuyan

Meanwhile, Malacañang defended Duterte’s decision to give a new post to a retired military official tagged in a multibillion-peso shabu smuggling controversy.

Former colonel Allen Capuyan, who was accused of providing tariff codes that allowed smugglers to access the “green” or express lane, has been appointed executive director of the national secretariat of the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict.

Shipments that enter through the green lane are exempted from X-ray inspection.

Customs broker Mark Taguba claimed in a Senate hearing on the P6.4-billion smuggling fiasco that Capuyan had given him the tariff codes through mail.

Capuyan, a former assistant general manager for security of the Manila International Airport Authority, has denied involvement in the anomalies.

Asked whether Capuyan’s appointment contradicts Duterte’s campaign against corruption and illegal drugs, presidential spokesman Salvador Panelo said “since the president has appointed him to that post, then the President, I’m sure, knows what he’s doing.

“Maybe he doesn’t believe in the corruption charges,” he added.

Panelo said Capuyan’s appointment was the call of Duterte, who previously promised not to tolerate even a whiff of corruption in government.

The national task force to end the decades-old communist armed conflict was created through Executive Order No. 70 signed by the President last December. – With Alexis Romero