Retired general, former CA justice among new Palace appointees

MANILA, Philippines — President Marcos has appointed a retired police general and a former associate justice of the appellate court to key government posts.

Eliseo DC Cruz, former chief of the Philippine National Police Directorate for Investigation and Detective Management, has been named assistant secretary of the justice department, the Presidential Communications Office (PCO) announced in a Facebook post yesterday.

Cruz, who investigated the issues surrounding the controversial P6.7-billion drug haul in Manila in 2022, retired from the service last year.

The President also appointed former Court of Appeals associate justice Elihu Ybañez as commissioner of the Presidential Commission on Good Government (PCGG).

The PCGG was created in 1986 through Executive Order No. 1 signed by the late president Corazon Aquino, which states that the commission shall assist the chief executive in the “recovery of all ill-gotten wealth accumulated by former president Ferdinand E. Marcos, his immediate family, relatives, subordinates and close associates, whether located in the Philippines or abroad.”

Meanwhile, Wilma Galvante, a former GMA and TV5 executive, has been named board member of the Movie and Television Review and Classification Board.

Other new appointees include Carissa Coscolluela as acting member of the Cultural Center of the Philippines board of trustees, Manjit Reandi as Bases Conversion and Development Authority board member, Benjamin Albarece as agriculture assistant secretary, Sheila Imperial as agrarian reform director III, Raul Leonin and Vincent Ramos as provincial agrarian reform program officers II, Ana Liza Duran as health director IV, and Rosalio Aragon Jr. as a member representing the workers sector of the Metro Manila Regional Tripartite Wages and Productivity Board.

Aiza Riz Mendoza was also appointed as social welfare director III, Adolf Ryan Lantion and Princess May Oral as National Commission on Indigenous Peoples directors IV, Mario Fetalino Jr. as PCO assistant secretary, Marco Maat as trade director IV, Luz Galda as provincial trade and industry officer, Allen Dalangin, Inocencio Rosario Jr. and Edgar Ybañez as coast guard rear admirals, Jimmy Catanes, Lora Yusi and Mary Sylvette Gunigundo as Commission on Higher Education directors IV, Marco Cicero Domingo and Rody Garcia as CHED directors III, and Josefina Bañaga as MTRCB member.