GMA bares new appointments in various agencies

MANILA, Philippines - President Arroyo has reappointed former Immigration commissioner Andrea Domingo as the general manager and chief executive officer of the Philippine Reclamation Authority (PRA).

Domingo was previously appointed to the PRA in 2006 after her stint as commissioner of the Bureau of Immigration.

The members of the board of the PRA (formerly the Philippine Estates Authority) have a term of three years.

The PRA is mandated to reclaim land from the sea and oversee its development.

The President also reappointed Roseller Valera as board member of the PRA alongside Domingo.

Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita announced the appointment of James Erving Paman as commissioner of the Philippine Racing Commission, representing the racehorse owners.

Felicitas Agoncillo-Reyes was appointed executive director of the Department of Trade and Industry-Board of Investments.

Prior to the appointment, Agoncillo-Reyes was officer-in-charge of the BOI’s Investments Promotion Group.

No major appointments related to the President’s Cabinet were announced yesterday even though it is already widely known that several Cabinet members are seeking an elective post in next year’s polls.

Three Cabinet members have resigned to pursue their political ambitions, namely Defense Secretary Gilbert Teodoro Jr., Public Works Secretary Hermogenes Ebdane Jr. and Metropolitan Manila Development Authority chairman Bayani Fernando.

All three have aired their desire to run for president next year.

Ermita said other Cabinet members seeking an elective post next year include Agriculture Secretary Arthur Yap, who is running for congressman in Bohol; Technical Education and Skills Development Authority chairman Augusto Syjuco for congressman in Iloilo; Chief Presidential Legal Counsel Raul Gonzalez, for mayor of Iloilo; Presidential Management Staff director general Hermogenes Esperon for congressman in Pangasinan; Environment Secretary Lito Atienza for mayor of Manila City; and Energy Secretary Angelo Reyes for mayor of Taguig City.

Ermita is contemplating running again for Congress as a representative of his home province of Batangas, but said that he has not yet made a final decision on his political plans.