MANILA, Philippines - President Aquino has appointed new officials in the Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC) and Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB).
Deputy presidential spokesperson Abigail Valte said the new appointees are Jaime Raphael Feliciano as DOTC assistant secretary, replacing George Esguerra, and Ronaldo Franco Corpuz as new LTFRB member, vice Samuel Julius Garcia.
Feliciano’s term of office is coterminous with the President up to June 2016.
Feliciano graduated Bachelor of Arts, major in Management Economics from the Ateneo de Manila University in 1999. He obtained his bachelor of laws degree from the University of the Philippines in 2003 and became a lawyer a year later.
He worked as senior associate of the Romulo Mabanta Buenaventura Sayoc & De Los Angeles law firm. Prior to his DOTC appointment, Feliciano served as its director for legal services and director for infrastructure projects since July 2011.
The President also appointed Al Parreno as LTFRB member replacing Manuel Iway. Their appointment papers were all signed on July 10.
Over the weekend, Aquino appointed a new commissioner of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) under the Department of Finance (DOF) and a new deputy director general of the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA).
The new SEC commissioner is David Balangue, who replaced lawyer Raul Palabrica, while Emmanuel Esguerra was appointed as NEDA deputy director general, vice Augusto Santos.
Esguerra, an economics professor, will be working under NEDA chief Arsi Balisacan.
Valte said Balangue is a certified public accountant who obtained a Master of Management degree from the Graduate School of Management, Northwestern University in Illinois.
Balangue is a product of the Manuel L. Quezon University in 1971 and ranked second in the CPA board examinations a year later.
Balangue was director-member of the executive committee and member of audit and risk committee of Roxas Holdings, Inc., and director-member of the audit committee of Trans-Asia Oil and Energy Development Corp.
He also used to be chairman and president of SGV Foundation from 2003 to 2010. He was a partner since 1982, and later became chairman and managing partner since January 2004.
As for Esguerra, he came from the University of the Philippines School of Economics.
He was also an associate professor and former chairman of the Department of Economics of the UP School of Economics.
The new NEDA official has a doctorate in agricultural economics from Ohio State University in 1993 and Masters in Economics from UP.
He graduated cum laude in economics from the UP in 1976. Esguerra’s specialty includes labor economics, development economics, and public economics, among others.
When asked why Palabrica and Santos were replaced, Valte did not elaborate.
“I will have to check the specific cases of the two. Maybe they tendered their courtesy resignations, we do not know,” she said.
Transportation Secretary Manuel Roxas II, for his part, welcomed the appointments of Feliciano, Corpuz and Parreno as new board members of the LTFRB.
“I have high respect for these executives who have proven their competence and integrity in their respective fields,” Roxas said. “They will play crucial roles in line with the good governance platform of our President.” – With Rainier Allan Ronda