President Rodrigo Duterte has appointed a cousin of his partner Cielito “Honeylet” Avanceña and another military man to government posts.
He named Melissa Avanceña Aradanas assistant secretary of the Department of Human Settlements and Urban Development on Jan. 21, according to a list of appointees released by the Palace Tuesday.
Aradanas was among the five members of the Presidential Commission for the Urban Poor, led by their chairman Terry Ridon, who were fired by the President in December 2017 for going on various trips abroad.
She had been a member of that commission since 1996 and one of the staff members of the Office of the Chairman.
Aradanas, however, was reappointed in 2018 by Duterte to another government post, as deputy secretary-general of the Housing and Urban Development Coordinating Council, an agency under the DHSUD.
Meanwhile, Duterte has also named former Armed Forces of the Philippines chief Benjamin Madrigal Jr. as a member of the Philippine Coconut Authority’s governing board.
Madrigal retired as AFP chief on Sept. 28 last year after reaching the mandatory retirement age of 56.
He was a member of the Philippine Military Academy Class of 1985 and was appointed AFP chief on Dec. 11, 2018.
Madrigal will join the growing number of military men appointed by the President to key government posts.
Duterte has repeatedly expressed his preference for military men in his Cabinet, saying they were “honest” and “hardworking.”
Aside from Aradanas and Madrigal, Duterte also renewed the appointment of Wendel Avisado as Budget ad-interim secretary.
