Palace names new OPAV chief

CEBU, Philippines — Cebuano businessman Philip Lo has been appointed secretary of the Office of the Presidential Assistant for the Visayas (OPAV).

The appointment was announced Wednesday by Palace Press Officer Claire Castro ahead of Lo's scheduled oath-taking before President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. in Malacañang.

Lo previously served as chairman of the board of the state-owned Development Bank of the Philippines after his appointment in 2024.

A report by the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism (PCIJ) identified Lo as the third-largest campaign donor to Marcos during the last presidential elections.

The OPAV has been without a secretary since June 2025 following the resignation of Terence Calatrava during the Cabinet reorganization ordered by Marcos after the 2025 midterm elections.

Alongside Lo's appointment, the President also named former Interior and Local Government secretary Benhur Abalos as Cabinet Secretary. Abalos took his oath Wednesday afternoon.

According to Castro, Abalos will "assist the President by providing timely, relevant, and strategic advice on emerging national, local, and international issues affecting the political landscape."

“As may be directed by the President, serve as a conduit of the President to national government agencies, local government units, political organizations, groups or parties, civil society organizations, and sectoral groups on matters of political concern, and also serve as head of strategic action and response office, and for this purpose exercise supervision and control over its constituent offices,” she said.

Abalos served as secretary of the Department of the Interior and Local Government from June 2022 until October 2024. He later ran for senator under the administration-backed Alyansa para sa Bagong Pilipinas slate in the May 2025 elections but was unsuccessful. — Philippine Star News Service/FPL (FREEMAN)