Palace announces new Pag-IBIG chief, board members

(Updated 8:19 p.m.) Malacañang on Saturday announced the appointment of new officers and members of the Home Development Guaranty Fund (Pag-IBIG Fund) Board. Deputy presidential spokeswoman Abigail Valte said President Benigno Aquino III appointed Darlene Marie Berberabe as chief executive officer of Pag-IBIG. Speaking on government-run dzRB radio, she also named the new Pag-IBIG board members as Edgardo Lacson, Jesus Varela, Jaime Miralles, Raul de Mesa, and Benjie Martinez. Valte also announced the appointment of Ofelia Sta. Maria as deputy administrator of the Land Registration Authority (LRA). An article posted on state-run Philippines News Agency listed Berberabe’s credentials:

• finished Bachelor of Arts summa cum laude at the University of the Philippines in 1989;
• finished law as salutatorian also at UP in 1999;
• currently associate lawyer of Quisumbing Torres (Baker & Mckenzie) Law office;
• professor of the Department of Philosophy, U.P. Diliman;
• Speaker, Conference on Election Law, Batangas, 2001;
• Speaker, Franchising and the Law, U.P. Institute for Small Scale Industries, 2000;
• authored the Retail Trade Liberalization, Asia Pacific Legal Bulletin, 2000;
• authored Divine Command Theory as masteral thesis in 1995.

A Malacañang statement said Lacson is the chairman and one of the founders of AWARE, a foundation that provides free pre-departure orientation seminars (PDOS) to Filipino overseas workers. He is also current president of the Employers' Confederation of the Philippines and the immediate past president of the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry. The Palace added he is also a member of the Philippine technical committee of Nippon Kaiji Kyokai, an accredited organization of the International Class Societies. On the other hand, it said Martinez is a top aide of Vice President Jejomar Binay. Meanwhile, a Palace statement on Saturday night said Aquino appointed Sta. Maria as "deputy administrator of the Light Rail Transit Authority," although an Internet search shows Sta. Maria's previous posts have been with the Land Registration Authority. The Malacañang website has not acknowledged or corrected the apparent error as of posting time.— LBG/JV, GMANews.TV