Ex-corporate lawyer named as DA chief’s aide

Department of Agriculture (DA) logo. INQUIRER FILES

MANILA, Philippines — A former corporate lawyer has been appointed as chief-of-staff of Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr.

Alvin John Balagbag, who served as a corporate lawyer and general counsel of Frabelle Group of Companies and a corporate lawyer of the state-owned Philippine National Oil Company, was named to the post on Thursday. He will hold the rank of Undersecretary.

READ: New DA chief Tiu Laurel severs business ties, says Garafil

Based on Frabelle’s official website, Frabelle Group of Companies “holds diversified business interests which include deep-sea fishing, aquaculture, canning, food manufacturing and processing, food importation and trading, cold storage, shipyard operations, wharf development, real estate development, and power generation.”

Department of Agriculture (DA) chief Tiu Laurel was the president of Frabelle Fishing Corporation.

READ: Senate to Tiu Laurel: Fix DA’s ‘Dept of Importation’ issue

A statement from the DA indicated that Balagbag earned his law degree from the University of Sto. Tomas and obtained a Master’s Degree in Business Administration from the Ateneo Graduate School of Business.

The DA statement likewise announced the appointment of Engineer Roger Navarro as DA Undersecretary for operations in a concurrent capacity with his other designations.