DOTr exec named communications assistant

PRESIDENT Marcos Jr. has named transportation undersecretary for railways Cesar Chavez as Presidential Assistant for Strategic Communications under the Office of the President.

Chavez, according to his appointment paper dated December 5, 2023, will have the rank of undersecretary.

He previously served as Light Rail Transit Authority (LRTA) deputy administrator, and member of the Board of Directors of the Bases Conversion and Development Authority (BCDA).

He was also a former assistant general manager of the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority and former chairman of the National Youth Commission.

The Presidential Communications Office (PCO), in a Facebook post, also announced that the President has appointed Jeremy Regino as undersecretary of the Department of Transportation (DOTr).

Prior to his appointment to DOTr, Regino served as general manager and member of the board of the Philippine National Railways (PNR). He was a former administrator of the LRTA and served as chief of staff to Caloocan Mayor Oscar Malapitan, the Philippine Tourism Authority and Pangasinan governors Oscar Orbos and Rafael Colet.

Also appointed were Mary Jean Pacheco as undersecretary of the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), and Michel Kristian Ablan as DTI assistant secretary.

Pacheco is currently serving as DTI assistant secretary, while Ablan was an undersecretary at the Department of Education prior to his new position.

Ablan, who is a lawyer, was a former assistant secretary at the PCO and former deputy presidential spokesman.