MANILA – President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. has appointed new members to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) National Commission of the Philippines (UNACOM).
The Presidential Communications Office (PCO) released the list of new UNACOM members via its official Facebook page on Saturday.
Education Secretary Sonny Angara, Technical Education and Skills Development Authority Director General Jose Francisco Benitez, Commission on Higher Education Chairperson J. Prospero de Vera III, and Bangsamoro Education Minister Mohagber Iqbal were appointed to the UNACOM Committee on Education.
Serving in the UNACOM Committee on Social and Human Sciences are Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Arsenio Balisacan, Philippine Commission on Women Executive Director Khay Ann Magundayao-Borlado, and National Statistician Claire Dennis Mapa.
For the UNACOM Committee on Culture, Marcos selected National Museum of the Philippines Director Jeremy Robert Barns, Tourism Secretary Christina Frasco, National Commission for Culture and the Arts Chairperson Victorino Manalo, and Acting Trade Secretary Ma. Cristina Roque.
Environment Secretary Maria Antonia Yulo-Loyzaga and Science and Technology Secretary Renato Solidum Jr. will be members of the UNACOM Committee on Science and Technology.
For the UNACOM Committee on Communication and Information, the president tapped Komisyon sa Wikang Filipino Chairperson Arthur Casanova, Information and Communications Technology Secretary Ivan John Uy, and National Academy of Science and Technology-Engineering Sciences and Technology Division Chairperson Alvin Culaba.
UNACOM, established under Republic Act 621 in 1951, was originally mandated to serve as an advisory and liaison body connecting relevant Philippine partners to UNESCO’s work in education, science, and culture. Its role has since evolved to include formulating policy feedback.
Other Appointments
In addition, Sarah Mae Cruz, Jennifer Fandialan-Legaspi, and Jane Yu were named Assistant Solicitors General; Rosalinda Bautista was appointed Deputy National Statistician; Mariflor Castillo as Special Prosecutor at the Ombudsman’s office; Felicitas Bay as Migrant Workers Undersecretary; Farwa Hombre as Health Assistant Secretary; and Reymundo de Guzman Jr. as Chair of the Office of Transportation Cooperatives.
President Marcos also made new appointments at the Department of Agrarian Reform, including Rodolfo Castil Jr. (Assistant Secretary); Abdullah Balindong and Elpidio Santos (Provincial Agrarian Reform Program Officers II); and Josephine Aguinaldo and Virginia Batosalem (Provincial Agrarian Reform Program Officers I).
At the Department of Education, Roger Masapol was appointed Assistant Secretary; Paolo Mikael Quilala as Director IV; Guia del Valle-Ramoso as Director III; and Gaudencio Aljibe Jr., Juan Araojo Jr., Cynthia Ayles, Anelito Bongcawil, Melanie Estacio, Soraya Faculo, Jinky Firman, Nicasio Frio, Rommel Jandayan, Ernesto Servillon Jr., Bernadette Susvilla, Ferdinand Sy, and Novelyn Vilchez as Schools Division Superintendents.
Other key appointments include Silvestre Barrameda Jr., Yvonne Purisima Flores, and Juan Pulhin as members of the Climate Change Commission’s People Survival Fund Board, representing non-government organizations, the business sector, and the academe and scientific community, respectively.
Carmen Leonor Alcantara and Roy Mahinay were appointed to the Presidential Agrarian Reform Council, with Alcantara representing affected landowners in Mindanao and Mahinay serving as the representative of agrarian reform beneficiaries in Visayas.
Francisco Gil Garcia will join the Philippine Rice Research Institute’s Board of Trustees as the academic community representative, while Ericson Velasquez will represent the National Economic Development Authority (NEDA) Community.
Dante Elcinas and Kenneth Fabila were named members of the Regional Tripartite Wages and Productivity Board, representing the workers’ sector in the Bicol Region and the employers’ sector in Eastern Visayas, respectively.
Additionally, Glady Bunao will serve as a member of the National Authority for Child Care, representing non-government organizations. Other notable appointments include Romeo Racadio as Director IV at the National Security Council; Rosalinda Chiong as Director II at the National Bureau of Investigation; Emmanuel Ferrer, Norman Uyvico, and Remedios Vegim-Teves as Directors II at the Labor Department.
Marcos also appointed Janet Quizon as Director III at the Science and Technology Department; Gloriece Glen Do as Deputy Executive Director III at the Philippine Commission on Sports Scuba Diving; and Frances Cabana as Director IV at NEDA.
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