President Rodrigo Duterte has appointed a former militant lawmaker as undersecretary of the Department of Social Welfare and Development.
The president named Luzviminda Ilagan to the post on Sept. 13. Ilagan is a former party-list representative and currently the National President of the Gabriela Women’s Party, which recently bolted out of the House majority bloc.
A former OIC City Councilor in Davao City from 1986 to 1988 and an elected Councilor from 1998 to 2001, Ilagan was among those who worked for the passage of the Davao City Women Development Code, the first of its kind in the Philippines and which has served as a model for other LGUs.
Ilagan’s entry to the DSWD comes a few months after the departure of former Social Welfare Secretary Dr. Judy Taguiwalo, another leftist who was rejected by the Commission on Appointments last August.