President Benigno Aquino III and Panfilo Lacson INQUIRER FILE PHOTO
MANILA, Philippines – President Benigno Aquino III has appointed Danilo Antonio, formerly chief operating officer of Eton Properties, as undersecretary to assist rehabilitation czar Panfilo Lacson, Communications Secretary Herminio Coloma said Tuesday.
Coloma, in a televised press conference in Malacañang Palace, said the newly-appointed Lacson personally recommended Antonio to help him in the rehabilitation and recovery operations in areas ravaged by Supertyphoon “Yolanda” last month.
Eton Properties Phil. Inc. is the property development arm of the Lucio Tan group.
Earlier, Lacson said he was eyeing the help of the private sector to rebuild heavily devastated towns and cities in Eastern Visayas.
Coloma reiterated this when asked if Antonio’s participation in the rehabilitation efforts meant large real estate companies will be involved in the reconstruction Tacloban City and other areas.
“Nakipagpulong si Secretary Lacson at nakipagkonsulta sa mga stakeholder groups. At isa sa mga panukala ay partisipasyon ng private sector. Sa napakalaki pong programa ng rehabilitasyon hindi maiiwasan na hindi magkaroon ng involvement dito ang private sector,” he said.
(“Secretary Lacson met and consulted stakeholder groups. One of their proposals was to encourage the participation of the private sector. With such a huge rehabilitation program, it is inevitable that the private sector will have to be involved.”)
He said Lacson was given the freedom to come up with his own office organizational structure, though the Secretary already said he wanted a “lean staff.”
Coloma said there was nothing wrong in having someone from the private sector, like Antonio, work in the government, as long as he was qualified and willing to serve. The Communications Secretary pointed out that he also hailed from the private sector before entering public office.
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