MANILA -- The Department of Justice (DOJ) on Wednesday confirmed that Malacañang has appointed three new undersecretaries and one assistant secretary to the agency.
In a statement, Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra said lawyers Emmeline Aglipay-Villar, Adrian F. Sugay, Mark L. Perete were named as undersecretaries while Neal Vincent M. Bainto was appointed as assistant secretary.
Guevarra said President Rodrigo Duterte has accepted the courtesy resignations of Undersecretaries Erickson Balmes, Reynante Orceo and Raymund Mecate and Assistant Secretary Juvy R. Manwong following the resignation of former Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre II last April.
Mecate used to be the undersecretary in charge of the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) and handled administrative and operational concerns; Balmes was undersecretary in charge of the Bureau of Immigration, as well as media affairs; while Orceo used to handle concerns involving the Bureau of Corrections.
Balmes, Orceo and Mecate are fraternity brothers of President Durterte in Lex Talionis fraternity as well as Aguirre.
The resignations were made following Justice Secretary Menadro Guevarra’s directive when he assumed the top DOJ post.
Villar, Sugay, Perete and Bainto, were appointed by the President based on Guevarra's recommendation.
Villar was a law graduate of the University of the Philippines 2006 (Order of the Purple Feather Honors Society).
Prior to her appointment to the DOJ, Villar was a member of the House of Representatives and party-list representative of the labor sector with a national constituency.
She is the wife of Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) Secretary Mark Villar.
Sugay, on the other hand, graduated from the Ateneo de Manila University law school in 1993. Since then he has been in active litigation and was at one time a partner at De Borja Medialdea Bello Guevarra and Serapio Law offices.
Sugay, meanwhile, served as special assistant to the Corporate Head at the Philippine Ports Authority prior to his appointment.
Perete, a UP College of Law alumnus, worked as legal counsel in a large multinational company and taught various law subjects in several universities.
Bainto obtained his Juris Doctor degree from the Ateneo de Manila University School of Law and was the recipient of the Evelio Javier Leadership Award in 2012.
Prior to his appointment, he served as a senior associate at the Villaraza and Angangco Law Offices. (PNA)
