Acting BFP chief now Fire director; Misuari gets Islamic body ambassadorship 

President Rodrigo Duterte met with MNLF founder Nur Misuari in Malacañang on Feb. 25, 2019. (Photo by ROBINSON NIÑAL JR. / Presidential Photographers Division)

Manila, Philippines—President Rodrigo Duterte has formally named Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP) officer-in-charge Jose Embang Jr. as the agency’s Fire Director while Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) founder Nur Misuari has been appointed special envoy to the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC).

Embang’s appointment paper was signed by Duterte on Jan. 16, while Misuari’s designation was signed Monday, Jan. 20, disclosed a list of presidential appointees Malacañang released on Tuesday.

Embang became BFP officer-in-charge early this month, replacing Fire Director Leonard Bañago, who retired from service after reaching the mandatory retirement age of 56.

Misuari, meanwhile, was reportedly named by Duterte as the country’s Special Economic Envoy on Islamic Affairs to the OIC in December last year.

Misuari is no stranger in the Islamic body, having represented the MNLF in the 57-country organization since the early 1970s after the group was granted observer status in 1977.

Edited by JPV