MANILA, Philippines - Justice Secretary Leila de Lima has designated Chief State Counsel Ricardo Paras III as officer-in-charge of the Inter-Agency Council Against Trafficking (IACAT) for one year starting next month.
According to a Department of Justice (DOJ) statement, Paras will temporarily head the office of Undersecretary Jose Vicente Salazar, who will be on leave to pursue post-graduate studies in the United States.
Salazar was recently accepted into Harvard Kennedy School’s one-year Mid-Career Master in Public Administration under the Edward Mason program. Among the program’s graduates are the late Interior and Local Government Secretary Jesse Robredo and Budget Secretary Florencio Abad.
De Lima said the temporary designation of Paras will include the oversight of the operations of IACAT.
“The IACAT is resolute in its mandate to weed out human trafficking and the same enthusiasm and resolve will be carried out during… Paras’ watch,†she said.
Salazar resumes his post as DOJ undersecretary in July next year.