Ex-Abra mayor named tobacco body chief

BAGUIO CITY, Philippines — A fomer municipal mayor in Abra has been appointed head of the National Tobacco Administration (NTA).

President Duterte named former Dolores town mayor Robert Victor Seares Jr. as administrator and chief executive officer of NTA on June 10.

Seares replaced his father, Robert Seares Sr., who died on March 19 this year.

The NTA is an attached agency of the Department of Agriculture.

Seares took his oath before Malabon Regional Trial Cout Judge Josie Rodil in a ceremony held at the NTA central office in Quezon City.

He vowed to continue the programs that his father started as well as protect the welfare of tobacco farmers.