FPJ daughter heads MTRCB

MANILA, Philippines - President Aquino, exempted by the Commission on Elections (Comelec) from the appointments ban through Nov. 10, has appointed five more officials, including the daughter of action king Fernando Poe Jr.

Grace Poe-Llamanzares was designated chairperson of the Movie and Television Review and Classification Board (MTRCB) while award-winning film director Emmanuel Borlaza was appointed vice chairman of the same agency.

According to deputy presidential spokesperson Abigail Valte, Llamanzares is qualified for the post as she “certainly had experience” and that she “underwent screening,” apart from the fact that she enjoys the trust of the President. 

“From my personal recollection, Llamanzares has always been involved with the archives of the movies of her late father. We cannot say that because she is not a movie star, she does not have any experience of the kind of job she will have at the MTRCB,” she said.

Other new presidential appointees include a stalwart of Mr. Aquino’s political party, the Liberal Party. LP bigwig Jose Martin Luis Gascon was appointed board member of the Bases Conversion and Development Authority.

Gascon is close to LP president and former senator Manuel Roxas II and Interior and Local Government Secretary Jesse Robredo.

The two others are Joseph Peter Sison, designated president of the National Home Mortgage Finance Corp., and Nestor Palabyab, who will now be sitting as deputy executive director of the Philippine Trade Training Center.

Last Saturday, the President appointed Darlene Berberabe-Lim as president and chief executive officer of the Pag-IBIG Fund.

Valte said Mr. Aquino also named the following to the Pag-IBIG board: Edgardo Lacson, Jesus Varela (former Sorsogon bishop), Jaime Miralles, Raul de Mesa, and Benjie Martinez.

The President also appointed Ofelia Sta. Maria as deputy administrator of the Land Registration Authority.

Berberabe-Lim finished Bachelor of Arts summa cum laude at the University of the Philippines in 1989 and graduated salutatorian from the UP College of Law in 1999.

She is an associate lawyer of Quisumbing Torres (Baker & Mckenzie) Law office and professor at the Department of Philosophy of UP Diliman. She authored the Retail Trade Liberalization, Asia Pacific Legal Bulletin in 2000.

Lacson is the chairman and one of the founders of AWARE, a foundation that provides free pre-departure orientation seminars to Filipino overseas workers; current president of the Employers’ Confederation of the Philippines; and immediate past president of the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

He is also a member of the Philippine technical committee of Nippon Kaiji Kyokai, an accredited organization of the International Class Societies.

Martinez is said to be a top aide of Vice President Jejomar Binay.

‘Cusi will have to stay’

Malacañang earlier backtracked on its initial plan to replace the head of the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines, who was given a fixed term by former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo until 2014, saying he will have to stay in the meantime.

Presidential spokesman Edwin Lacierda told Palace reporters CAAP head Alfonso Cusi will have to “stay,” as Transportation Secretary Jose de Jesus has to assess his performance.

CAAP, headed by director-general Cusi, is an agency under the control and supervision of the Department of Transportation and Communications.

“Secretary de Jesus is monitoring his (Cusi’s) performance because he’s in charge of getting us (Philippines) out of category two,” he said, referring to a ban Philippine carriers from European airspace, which took effect last April.

“It’s essential for us to get out of category two. We are looking at safety inspections, computerization of records and the capability of personnel. They are monitoring the work of Al Cusi,” Lacierda added.

Cusi’s post was among the 143 positions that Malacañang declared “vacant,” for which it sought exemption from the appointments ban being implemented by the Comelec, in light of the Oct. 25 barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan elections.