Search on for energy chief

Energy Secretary Jose Rene D. Almendras

President Benigno Aquino is searching for a new energy secretary to replace Jose Almendras whom he will appoint to head the Presidential Management Staff (PMS).

A Malacañang source told the Philippine Daily Inquirer that the decision to move Almendras to the PMS came after its current head, Julia Abad, a new mother, indicated that she wanted to spend more time with her family. Abad is the daughter of Budget Secretary Florencio Abad.

Even if the younger Abad  leaves the PMS, she is likely to get a new assignment, the source said.

“The President is likely to give her an assignment that is less presence- and time-demanding,” said the source, who refused to be identified for lack of authority to speak on the matter.

Asked to confirm his daughter’s departure from the PMS, Budget Secretary Abad had previously told reporters to go and ask her.

Almendras, a classmate and close friend of President Aquino at the Ateneo, was chosen to head the PMS because of his management and administrative skills, the source said.

Before he took over the energy portfolio, Almendras was president of Manila Water Co. of the Ayala Group. Christine O. Avendaño