MANILA – A board member of the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) has been appointed as the agency’s officer in charge (OIC) following the resignation of chairperson Cheloy Garafil.
In a statement on Friday, the LTFRB said Riza Marie Paches was named OIC of the agency.
Paches is a licensed engineer and environmental planner and has been a board member of the LTFRB since July.
Prior to serving in the LTFRB, Paches served as acting head of the City Public Office (CPSO) of General Santos City.
As head of the CPSO, she handled the General Santos City Transportation and Traffic Engineering Division, City Security Division, City Transportation and Traffic Management Division, City Disaster Risk and Reduction Management Office, and the Administrative Division.
She also served as head of the city’s Economic Management and Cooperative Development Office.
In 2017, she was appointed by former president Rodrigo Duterte as director for Infrastructure Cluster under his Cabinet.
She graduated from Notre Dame of Dadiangas University and received her Master’s Degree in National Security Administration from the National Defense College of the Philippines (NDCP) in August last year where she studied with Garafil.
“Nitong Agosto 2022, pinarangalan si OIC Chairman Paches at dating LTFRB Chairman Garafil bilang Outstanding Alumni ng NDCP (In August, Paches and Garafil were hailed as ‘Outstanding Alumni’ of the NDCP),” it said.
On Friday, Garafil said she stepped down from her post as LTFRB chair after accepting President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr.'s offer to serve as Undersecretary and officer-in-charge of the Office of the Press Secretary. (PNA)
