PRESIDENT Marcos Jr has appointed former Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana as chairman of the Bases Conversion and Development Authority (BCDA) which is mandated to raise funds for the Armed Forces modernization program.
Lorenzana, who served defense secretary for entire six-year Duterte administration, said he took his oath as BCDA chairman before the new president yesterday afternoon in Malacañang.
Other appointees also took their oaths, including former Quezon City councilor Diorella “Lala” Sotto-Antonio, daughter of former Senate President Vicente Sotto III, as chairwoman of the Movie and Television Review and Classification Board (MTRCB).
Lorenzana, asked if Marcos gave him any instruction, said: “No, there were no instructions from PBBM (President Bongbong Marcos).”
The 73-year-old Lorenzana, a retired Army general, declined to say the plans and programs he will be implement as the BCDA chairman, saying he will first report to the “and find out what my real job will be.”
The BCDA was created under Republic Act 7227 or the Bases Conversation Development Act of 1992.
The law mandates BCDA to raise funds for the AFP modernization program and convert US military bases into alternative productive uses. Since 1993, it has contributed some P49.19 billion to the AFP modernization program.
DND spokesman Arsenio Andolong congratulated Lorenzana for his appointment as BCDA chairman.
“The BCDA is a government-owned and controlled development corporation created by law to develop former US military bases and properties. With the Armed Forces of the Philippines as its major beneficiary, the BCDA has contributed to the funding of the AFP Modernization Program over the years,” he said.
Press Secretary Trixie Cruz-Angeles said aside from Lorenzana and Sotto-Antonio, others who took their oaths were Jose Calida, commissioner of the Commission on Audit, and Cesar Chavez, as undersecretary of the Department of Transportation (DOTr). Calida and Chavez’ appointments were announced before Marcos assumed the presidency.
Also sworn in were Bianca Cristina Cardenas Zobel as social secretary, Franz Imperial and Gerald Baria as undersecretaries at the Office of the President (OP), Honey Rose Mercado as undersecretary of the Presidential Management Staff (PMS), and Emerald Ridao as undersecretary at the Office of the Press Secretary.
Calida, who has been the solicitor general since 2016 or under Duterte’s presidency, is a former undersecretary of the Department of Justice and the executive director of the Dangerous Drugs Board before that. — With Jocelyn Montemayor
