6 new gov’t officials named

Malacañang announced yesterday six new appointments to government positions, including the chairmanship of the government panel in the peace negotiations with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF).

Two of the appointments –- Rodolfo Garcia as chairman of the government peace panel and Lilian Hefti as officer-in-charge of the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) –- were revealed earlier but the official announcement was only made yesterday.

Garcia, a former lieutenant general of the Armed Forces of the Philippines, was vice chairman of the government panel in the peace negotiations with the MILF, and would be taking the place of Silvestre Afable, his former boss who resigned last month.

On the other hand, Hefti, a deputy commissioner of the BIR, was tapped to replace Jose Mario Buñag as head of the government’s tax collection agency.

Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita also announced the appointment of Manuel Bonoan as senior undersecretary of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH).

Bonoan would be returning to his old post after less than a year of being the OIC of the DPWH when Secretary Hermogenes Ebdane Jr. was appointed as defense secretary.

The President recently announced that Ebdane would return to the DPWH and that former Tarlac congressman Gilbert Teodoro Jr. would take his place at the Defense department.

Former Philippine National Police-Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (PNP-CIDG) head Chief Superintendent Ricardo Dapat was appointed director of the Bureau of Corrections to replace Vicente Vinarao.

Team Unity spokesman Antonio “Tonypet” Albano was named Executive Director of the Office of the Political Coalition Affairs at Malacañang.

Ermita also announced the appointment of Nestor Camacho as Presidential Assistant for Region XII under the Office of External Affairs of Malacañang.  – Marvin Sy