GMA appoints new Visayas deputy ombuds

President Gloria Arroyo yesterday announced the appointment of a new Deputy Ombudsman for the Visayas in the person of assistant ombudsman Pelagio Apostol.

Arroyo said Apostol was chosen because he was the most senior among the applicants.

The president said she signed Apostol’s appointment two weeks ago and he is expected to formally assume the post as soon as his appointment will be formally announced and released by Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita.

Acting Deputy Ombudsman for the Visayas Virginia Palanca Santiago, who is among those in the shortlist submitted by the Judicial and Bar Council to Arroyo, welcomed Apostol’s appointment saying Apostol is very qualified for the position.

The other applicants included in the shortlist aside from Santiago, were graft investigator Carla Tangco and Regional Trial Court judge Simeon Dumdum.

“I salute the appointment,” Santiago said as she assured Apostol of the full support of the officials and staff of the Visayas Ombudsman’s Office.

Santiago admitted that she was planning to resign if the one appointed did not come from within the Ombudsman, now she has changed her mind.

Meanwhile, Arroyo has also chosen Ray Anthony Roxas Chua as the new chairman of the Commission on Information and Communications Technology.

Arroyo said Chua worked in the US, specifically in the IT department of Citibank in San Francisco, but decided to come back to the Philippines to work for his family.  — Fred P. Languido/BRP