President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. on Tuesday retained three more officials from the previous administration in their respective posts.
Marcos retained actor and former Pampanga governor Mark Lapid as chief operating officer of the Tourism Infrastructure and Enterprise Zone Authority, the Palace said.
Also retained are former media executive Jose Manuel Romualdez as Philippine ambassador to the United States and long-time envoy Antonio Manuel Lagdameo as ambassador and permanent representative of the Philippines to the United Nations.
Marcos swore in Lapid, Romualdez, and Lagdameo at the Palace.
Earlier, Marcos renominated former Cabinet secretary Karlo Nograles as chairman of the Civil Service Commission.
He was one of President Rodrigo Duterte’s ad-interim appointees bypassed by the Commission on Appointments due to a lack of quorum.
Other appointees who also took their oath on Tuesday were Department of Budget and Management Secretary Amenah Pangandaman; General Manager and President of the Government Service Insurance System Jose Arnulfo Veloso; and Presidential Security Group Commander and Senior Military Assistant Ramon Zagala.
Others who took their oath were Quirino Rep. Junie Cua as chairperson of the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office; Romeo Lumagui Jr. as deputy commissioner for operations of the Bureau of Internal Revenue; and former Basilan governor Abdulghani “Gerry” Salapuddin as administrator and chairperson of the Southern Philippines Development Authority.
Actor Tirso Cruz III took his oath as chairperson and chief executive of the Film Development Council and Juan Revilla as a board member of the Movie and Television Review and Classification Board.
All appointees took their oath in the Palace.
Meanwhile, Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla has designated chief of the Immigration Regulation Division Rogelio Gevero, Jr. as officer-in-charge commissioner of the Bureau of Immigration.
Gevero will be replacing BI Commissioner Jaime Morente, who was appointed by President Rodrigo Duterte to head the graft-ridden agency in July 2016.
As OIC of the BI, Gevero will perform and discharge the duties and responsibilities of the office until July 31 or until a replacement has been appointed.
During Morente’s term, 43 BI officers were charged with graft before Sandiganbayan, for their participation in the so-called “pastillas scheme,” where Chinese nationals allegedly bribed officers for easy access into the country.
This led the Department of Justice to order the dismissal of 18 officers and employees of the agency after they were found administratively liable in the scheme.
Also on Wednesday, Transportation Secretary Jaime Bautista designated Romeo Vera Cruz as officer-in-charge (OIC) of the Land Transportation Office (LTO).
Before his designation, Vera Cruz had been serving as the agency’s executive director.
As OIC, it said Vera Cruz is authorized to act on “administrative and day-to-day functions” of the LTO.
