Apr 092014
 
President Benigno S. Aquino III huddles with the University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP) Season 76 women’s volleyball champion Ateneo de Manila University (AdMU) Lady Eagles, led by Season and Finals Most Valuable Player (MVP) Alyssa Valdez, for a selfie shot during the group’s courtesy call at the President’s Hall of the Malacañan Palace on Thursday (April 03). (MNS photo)

President Benigno S. Aquino III huddles with the University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP) Season 76 women’s volleyball champion Ateneo de Manila University (AdMU) Lady Eagles, led by Season and Finals Most Valuable Player (MVP) Alyssa Valdez, for a selfie shot during the group’s courtesy call at the President’s Hall of the Malacañan Palace on Thursday (April 03). (MNS photo)

MANILA (Mabuhay) – President Benigno S. Aquino III administered the oath of office of newly appointed ambassadors and government officials in a ceremony at Malacanang’s Rizal Hall on Monday.

The newly appointed ambassadors were former Foreign Affairs spokesperson Raul Hernandez as Philippine Ambassador to the Republic of Korea, Petronila Garcia as Philippine Ambassador to Canada, and Joseph Gerald Angeles as Philippine Ambassador to South Africa.

Under the Department of Foreign Affairs, Undersecretary for Migrant Workers Affairs Jesus Yabes and Special Envoy of the President to the Gulf Cooperative Council Amable Aguiluz were also sworn into office.

Former Armed Forces of the Philippines chief of staff Eduardo Oban and Marciano Paynor Jr. were both sworn in as Undersecretaries under the Office of the Executive Secretary.

Other officials who took their oath of office were Jess Anthony Yu as Undersecretary of the Presidential Communications Operations Office; Jose Emmanuel Reverente as Undersecretary of the Department of Finance; Edwin Carillo as Assistant Government Corporate Counsel under the Department of Justice; Victorio Mario Dimagiba as Undersecretary of the Department of Trade and Industry; Rodolfo Isorena as Vice Admiral of the Philippine Coast Guard under the Department of Transportation and Communications; and Luie Tito Guia as Commissioner of the Commission on Elections. (MNS)

Oct 302013
 
Palace: Review shows NFA chief qualified to hold post

National Food Authority (NFA) chief Orlan Calayag is qualified to hold his position despite questions on his true citizenship, Malacañang said Wednesday. “Based on an assessment of the documents provided by Mr. Orlan Calayag, he has met all the qualifications necessary to hold his current position,” the Office of the Executive Secretary said in a statement released to the media. The Palace issued the statement a day after it said that “there in an ongoing review and verification process to address other issues pertinent to his [Calayag] appointment.“ The development came amid reports that Calayag was reportedly an American citizen. A report in Manila Standard Today said Aquino had antedated the tenure of Calayag by six months to skirt the election ban on midnight apppointments, which the Palace had denied. Presidential Communications Operations Office head Herminio “Sonny” Coloma Jr. explained that Calayag served the unexpired term of Angelito Banayo from the date of his first appointment on January 17, 2013. Coloma added that Calayag was reappointed on July 12, 2013, which he said is “in accordance with Republic Act 10149 or the GCG Law.”  — Kimberly Jane Tan/KBK, GMA News

Aug 062013
 

MANILA, Aug 5 (Mabuhay) — President Benigno S. Aquino III administered the oaths of office to 49 newly appointed government agency officials in ceremonies held in Malacanang on Monday. Leading the list of new government agency officials were: Alexander Pama – Undersecretary, Office of the Executive Secretary, Office of the President; Jose Justiniano – Undersecretary, […]

Jun 072013
 
Former Navy chief Pama is new Palace undersecretary

President Benigno Aquino III has appointed retired Navy Flag Officer in Command Alexander Pama as undersecretary under the Office of the Executive Secretary, Malacañang announced Friday.  But while his official designation is undersecretary under the Executive Secretary, reliable sources said Pama will head the National Coast Watch Council, an inter-agency body created by President Aquino in 2011.   Based on information made available to reporters, Aquino signed Pama’s appointment papers on May 31. Prior to his appointment, Pama, a member of the Philippine Military Academy Class of 1979, served as Navy chief until his retirement on Dec. 21 last year. He was replaced by current head of the Navy Vice Admiral Jose Luis Alano. Not the first Pama is not the first retired military or police officer to be appointment to a civilian post by President Aquino.  Others before Pama were former military chief Eduardo Oban Jr., who was appointed Department of Transportation and Communications undersecretary in Nov. 2012 and Ricardo David Jr., another former military chief, who was named Immigration chief in March 2011. Retired general Nestor Ochoa, who once served as acting chief of staff, is currently Philippine envoy to Brunei Darussalam. He was appointed by Aquino in April 2011. Retired Vice Admiral Ferdinand Golez, who was the 30th flag-officer-in-command of the Philippine Navy, was also appointed director of the Bases Conversion and Development Authority (BCDA) in May 2012. Another retired military officer, Lt. Gen. Gaudencio Pangilinan, previously headed the Bureau of Corrections following his appointment in July 2011. Read More …