Aquino swears in 20 new officials

Twenty new government officials took their oaths of office Tuesday before President Benigno Aquino III. Aquino administered the oath of office of former Central Bank Governor Jose L. Cuisia, Jr., whom he appointed as Philippine Ambassador to the United States; and former Philippine Ambassador to Canada Jose Brillantes as Foreign Affairs undersecretary for special and ocean concerns. The President signed Cuisia’s appointment papers in December 2010 to replace outgoing Ambassador Willy Gaa. Brillantes, on the other hand, was Philippine Ambassador to Malaysia from 1996 to 2002 and had served in various capacities in Philippine diplomatic missions in Ottawa, Germany, and Washington D.C. Aquino also swore in retired Armed Forces vice chief Lt. Gen. Nestor Ochoa and Ambassador Evelyn Austria-Garcia as Philippine Ambassador to Brunei Darussalam and Philippine Ambassador to the Czech Republic, respectively. Former Ambassador to New Zealand Bienvenido Tejano was sworn in as the new Philippine Ambassador to the Independent State of Papua New Guinea. Other officials who also took their oaths of office were Florencia Dorotan and Patrocino Jude Esguerra III as undersecretaries of the National Anti-Poverty Commission, Nabil Tan as undersecretary at the Office of the President, Gina Cantano-De la Cruz and Lila Shahani as assistant secretaries also at the Office of the President. Also sworn in were lawyer Bienvenido Benitez as a member of the board of directors of the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority representing the national government; Antonio Gallardo as presidential legislative assistant for the Senate; Karen Singson as the Department of Finance’s chief privatization officer at the Privatization and Management Office, and Nathaniel Servando as acting administrator of the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration. The President also swore in the new officials of the Department of National Defense- Philippine Veterans Investment Development Corporation-Industrial Authority namely, Triunfo Agustin as chairman of the board of directors; Leo Tereso Magno as administrator and member of the board of directors; and Romeo Alamillo, Vicente Buenaventura, Cesar Pobre and Jose Castellano Lapus as bembers of the board of directors. - Amita O. Legaspi/KBK, GMA News