President Benigno S. Aquino III administered yesterday the oath of office to 34 new government officials, including new state-owned Clark Development Corp. (CDC) chair Eduardo Oban Jr. and the five new commissioners of the National Commission on Muslim Filipinos (NCMF), in Malacañang.

Oban, former chief of the Armed Forces of the Philippines, formally took his oath as acting member in the board of directors of the CDC. Also sworn into office were lawyer Mehol Sadain, Salem Demuna, Edilwasif Baddiri, Esmael Ebrahim, and Mirkarl Allian as new NCMF commissioners. They will have a term until March 7, 2016.

Senatorial candidate Yasmin Busran-Lao also took her oath as Presidential Assistant for Muslim Concerns with the rank of undersecretary. Among the new government officials were Elmar Ingles, member representing consumer groups in the Optical Media Board; Lucena Samson, part-time commissioner representing the Pampango Language in the Commission on the Filipino Language; Ma. Cristina Flores, aprt-time commissioner representing the Pangasinan Language in the CFL and Lorna Flores, part-time commissioner representing the Languages of Southern Cultural Communities in CFL.

Francia Conrado was formally named member of the Movie and Television Review and Classification Board (MTRCB) while Marco Santiago was designated Presidential Legislative Liaison Officer III.

The new members of the National Anti-Poverty Commission (NAPC) are Rosalinda Manabat representing workers in the formal sector and migrant workers, Delfa Talaid representing artisanal fisherfolk, Norisa I. Sabirin, member representing children, Ponyong Kaldos representing indigenous communities, Emmanuel Villafuerte representing senior citizens, Gloria Madayag representing calamity victims, Marilou Tapia representing farmers and landless workers, Marlon Manuel representing NGOs, Linda Paracuelles representing the Urban Poor, Gibby Gorres representing the youth, and Teresa Fernandez representing women.

By: Genalyn D. Kabiling
Manila Bulletin
National News
April 18, 2012