Abalos secures DILG position after CA confirmation

ABALOS AS DILG SEC: Interior and Local Government Sec. Benjamin Abalos Jr. faces on Wednesday, September 14, 2022 members of the Commission on Appointments’ (CA) Committee on Interior and Local Government. Seeking the constitutional body’s support for his ad interim appointment, the former Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) chairperson and Mandaluyong City mayor shared his visions for the Department of the Interior and Local Government, which include raising the capacity of local government units “for accountable, effective and responsive governance,” among others. “I am committed to put to work my experience to lead the Department of the Interior and Local Government to the best of my ability,” Abalos told the CA panel. (Albert Calvelo/Senate PRIB)

MANILA, Philippines — Benjamin Abalos Jr.’s appointment as secretary of the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) was confirmed Wednesday by the Commission on Appointments (CA).

The CA approval in the plenary came following deliberations and recommendations of its committee on interior and local government.

Abalos was the former chief of the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) before he left the position to serve as President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s national campaign manager during the 2022 national and local elections.

Abalos is also a seasoned lawyer who comes from a dynasty of politicians, being the son of current Mandaluyong Mayor Benjamin Abalos — himself a Corazon Aquino-era Commission on Elections chairman — and the husband of Mandaluyong Vice Mayor Carmelita Aguilar-Abalos.

He also served as Mandaluyong mayor from 1998 to 2004, and from 2007 to 2016, as well as its congressman from 2004 to 2007.

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