Palace reports more appointments
Malacanang reported on Saturday the appointments of Daniel G. Corpuz as acting undersecretary of the Department of Tourism, Dr. Jose Luis Dangilan as acting Executive Director of the Lung Center of the Philippines under the Department of Health, Gerardo A. I. Esquivel as acting administrator of the Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System.
The appointments were announced by Deputy Presidential Spokesperson Abigail Valte in an interview on Radyo ng Bayan.
Appointed to the Philippine Council for Agriculture, Forestry and Natural Resources Research and Development (PCARRD), under the Department of Science and Technology are: Feliciano Calora Sr., Meneleo Carlos Jr., Philip L. Ong, Mediadora S. Claudio-Saniel, Reynaldo B. Veya, all representing the private sector and Alvin Culaba and Fortunato Sevilla III, both representing the organization of scientists and engineers.
Also appointed was Delilah S. Deles as acting deputy commissioner of the National Telecommunications Communication, under the Department of Transportation and Communication. (PCOO)
Palace happy that Martial Law victims vindicated by US Courts
With the Honolulu federal court ordering the payment of $1,000 to each of the 7,526 Martial law victims that filed a class suit against the late former strongman, Ferdinand Marcos, Malacanang expressed satisfaction that finally the victims of Martial law atrocities have been vindicated.
The payments will come from the $7.5 million Marcos estate that was set aside to settle the lawsuit filed by thousands of victims of torture, execution and kidnappings during the Martial Law imposed by the late president.
In an interview on Radyo ng Bayan Saturday, Deputy Presidential Spokesperson Abigail Valte said “it’s a vindication for the victims of Martial rule” and the amount of compensation is not really that important to the victims.
She said while some people may think that the compensation is not really enough for the victims or their survivors, “at this point, what is more important is the vindication of the wrong that was done,” Valte added.
Robert Swift, the lead lawyer in the class suit, said the payments were “important milestone for victims who have been fighting for years. Most of the victims or their surviving family members are very poor in the Philippines,” he added. (PCOO)
Statement of Executive Secretary Paquito N. Ochoa, Jr. on the resignation of Justice Jose Melo as Chairman of the Commission on Elections
This morning Justice Jose A. R. Melo tendered his resignation as Chairman of the Commission on Elections effective today, January 15, 2011.
We thank Justice Melo for his close to three years of service as Comelec Chairman. He leaves behind a distinguished record of public service, the highlight of which was the successful staging of the first fully automated national elections, widely acknowledged as the country's cleanest elections in recent history.
We wish Justice Melo and his family all the best. (PCOO)
