Duterte names ex-president Arroyo as Clark adviser

CITY OF SAN FERNANDO—President Rodrigo Duterte has appointed former President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo as presidential adviser on Clark Programs and Projects for a salary of P1 a year.

The former president, whose family hails from Pampanga, served as representative of the province’s second district after her 10-year stint as president.

She will be advising the Chief Executive in the development of the 3,400-hectare Clark Freeport and Economic Zone, which hosts the Clark International Airport and the New Clark City which Duterte declared as a national government administrative center.

The freeport hosts more than 1,000 export firms with 140,000 workers before the COVID-19 pandemic.

On Tuesday, the Clark International Airport Corp. (CIAC) said it had started an appraisal of its assets at the civil aviation complex to create more government revenues.

“One of our proactive responses to the pandemic is to conduct a thorough inventory of both fixed and movable assets, including nonperforming assets, which will be converted into additional revenues for the government,” said CIAC president Aaron Aquino. —WITH A REPORT FROM JEANNETTE I. ANDRADE