Peña appoints execs at Makati university, public hospital

ACTING Makati City Mayor Romulo Peña Jr. has named new appointees at the University of Makati (UMak) and Ospital ng Makati (OsMak), in another major move since taking over the suspended Mayor Junjun Binay earlier this month.

A statement from Peña’s office on Saturday said Dalisay Brawner was appointed officer in charge (OIC) of the government-run UMak to “spearhead needed reforms in the university.”

“The acting mayor has vowed to give his continuous support for UMak to become one of the most sought-after government-owned universities in the National Capital Region,” it added.

According to Gilbert de los Reyes, Peña’s appointee in the public information office, Brawner replaced Tomas Lopez, one of the Makati officials who recently faced a Senate investigation into alleged irregularities involving Vice President Jejomar Binay during his term as city mayor.

Brawner has the rank of Professor III in UMak and was appointed OIC on Thursday, De los Reyes said in a phone interview.

As to OsMak, a separate announcement from Peña’s office said Dr. Danilo Anastacio, who has 20 years of experience specializing in emergency medicine, represents the “new leadership” tasked with the hospital’s “facelift” and “needed reforms.”

Through Anastacio, Peña “intends to address persistent complaints from residents about slow service and inefficient staff, among other problems,” it said.

But according to De los Reyes, Anastacio will be serving as a “consultant” at the public hospital, where he was previously employed before moving to his current post at the emergency unit of Makati Medical Center.

Junjun Binay vacated the mayor’s office on July 1 to comply with the six-month preventive suspension order issued by the Office of the Ombudsman as it investigated the allegedly overpriced Makati City Science High School Building.

Upon taking over, Vice Mayor Peña’s first acts as acting mayor included the suspension of Makati’s sister city agreements with over 600 local government units across the country, and a review of City Hall’s service and employment contracts, the latter affecting about 4,000 local government workers listed as casuals.