PNoy picks new Tourism secretary; keeps name confidential

While visiting Baguio to boost domestic tourism there, President Benigno Aquino III said he has chosen a new Tourism Secretary to replace Alberto Lim who resigned August 12. Though Aquino did not divulge the name of his new alter ego just yet, he did give a clue as to his identity. The President said the next Tourism chief already has 48 “new" old friends in a social networking site. Aquino also said the next member of his Cabinet is from the private sector and will accept a massive pay cut upon joining government service. Soon after Lim announced his resignation late last week, the name of advertising executive Ramon Jimenez floated as a possible appointee to the DOT. Jimenez is founder of the ad agency Publicis JimenezBasic. “The President has not spoken to me about this. [The] news is partly speculative," Jimenez said. Aquino was in Baguio’s Burnham Park Friday evening to lead the switch-on ceremonies for the park’s energy-saving lights.
The development project in Burnham Park got started with funding from the DOT and the Priority Assistance Development Fund of Rep. Bernardo Vergara, with the help of the Department of Energy, whose input was the use of high pressure sodium vapor lamps and fluorescent lights. Replaced were all the old mercury lights, saving the city P1.5 million in electricity charges. The lighting project is part of the Philippine Energy Efficiency Project with financial assistance from the Asian Development Bank. With the President during the ceremony were Energy Secretary Jose Rene Almendras, Rep. Bernardo Vergara and Baguio City Mayor Mauricio Domogan. Earlier in the day, Aquino visited the zipline area of Camp John Hay's Tree Top Adventure but did not zip through it upon the advice of the Presidential Security Group, citing security reasons. —JMT/ELR/VS, GMA News