Galvez back as Marcos peace adviser

MANILA, Philippines — Former defense department officer-in-charge Carlito Galvez Jr. will again serve as presidential peace adviser, a post he held during the time of former president Rodrigo Duterte and the first few months of the Marcos administration.

Galvez was included in the list of new appointees released by the Presidential Communications Office yesterday.

Before his appointment as Duterte’s peace adviser, Galvez held key posts in the military, including Armed Forces of the Philippines chief and commander of the Western Mindanao Command, which fought the terrorists who laid siege to Marawi City in 2017.?During his stint as peace adviser, he led the campaign for the plebiscite and eventual ratification of the Bangsamoro Organic Law.

Galvez also oversaw the implementation of the executive order that created the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict.

At the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, Duterte designated Galvez as the “vaccine czar” that oversaw procurement of pandemic jabs.

When President Marcos assumed office, he allowed Galvez to remain as peace adviser in a holdover capacity until the end of 2022 or until his successor was named.

In January, Marcos named Galvez as OIC of the defense department following the resignation of senior undersecretary Jose Faustino Jr. He stepped down as OIC of the agency this month after Marcos appointed lawyer and former lawmaker Gilbert Teodoro Jr. as defense chief.

Other new appointees include Dan Baliao (chief of the Southeast Asian Fisheries Development Center’s aquaculture department), Nolasco Mempin (agriculture undersecretary), Noel Baluyan (agriculture assistant secretary), Vener Baquiran (customs deputy commissioner), Isidro Purisima (senior undersecretary of the Office of the Presidential Adviser on Peace, Reconciliation and Unity), Aileen Manalo (acting chair and member of the board of trustees of the APO Production Unit Inc.), Arlene Romasanta (environment director IV), Cleo Andrada and Felix Taguba (environment directors III).

Also appointed were Federico Marquez Jr. (employers sector representative of the National Tripartite Industrial Peace Council), Michael Democrito Mendoza (labor sector representative of the National Tripartite Industrial Peace Council), Pia de Jesus (deputy executive director IV of the National Wages and Productivity Commission) and Warren Manilay (employers sector representative of the Regional Tripartite Wages and Productivity Board Region XII); Aurelio Angeles Jr., Michael Ballesteros, Conrado Marty, Armando Rubia, Pablo Gancayco and Benjamin Tancio (Authority of the Freeport Area of Bataan board members); Liberito Espiritu (Philippine Domestic Construction Board chairman), Francis Cañedo, Ronaldo Elepaño Jr., Noel Flores and Dino Suelto (Philippine Domestic Construction Board members).

Gadon named adviser

Meanwhile, a controversial lawyer and defeated senatorial candidate who is facing disbarment cases over his foul language and his alleged violations of the legal profession’s code of ethics has been named presidential adviser on poverty alleviation.

President Marcos has appointed Lorenzo Gadon to the post, according to Presidential Communications Secretary Cheloy Garafil, who claimed that the move reflected the “government’s commitment to address one of the most pressing challenges faced by our nation.”

“(Gadon) will play a pivotal role in advising the President on strategies and policies aimed at combating poverty and improving the lives of the most vulnerable sectors of society,” Garafil said in a statement issued yesterday.

Garafil said Gadon’s wealth of experience as a corporate executive and legal counsel in diverse sectors, including manufacturing, information technology, realty development, health care, resorts and hotels, construction and trading would “contribute to the formulation of innovative and sustainable poverty alleviation strategies.”

Known for his acid tongue insults and profanities, Gadon is facing a number of disbarment complaints for allegedly violating the Code of Professional Responsibility and the Lawyer’s Oath.

He drew flak for insulting and cursing at the supporters of former chief justice Maria Lourdes Sereno, threatening to kill members of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front who do not cooperate with the government and claiming that the cause of death of former president Benigno Aquino III – who died of renal disease, secondary to diabetes – was human immunodeficiency virus or HIV.

Last year, the Supreme Court (SC) ordered the preventive suspension of Gadon and directed him to explain why he should not be disbarred for a viral video showing him spewing profanities and sexist remarks against journalist Raissa Robles. — Sheila Crisostomo