Palace names OICs for DICT, DOH
Undersecretaries who will serve as officers-in-charge (OICs) of the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT), and Department of Health (DOH) have been named by Malacañang Thursday.
The announcement follows the resignation of then DICT chief Rodolfo Salalima and the Commission on Appointments' (CA) rejection of the ad interim appointment of Health chief Paulyn Ubial.
In a press briefing Thursday morning, Presidential spokesman Ernesto Abella named Undersecretary Herminigildo Valle as OIC for the DOH, and Undersecretary Eliseo Rio Jr. as OIC for the DICT.
In two separate memorandum signed by Executive Secretary Salvador Medialdea by authority of the President, Valle and Rio were appointed so as not to hamper the delivery of services to the public.
"Upon the instruction of President Rodrigo Roa Duterte, and to ensure the continuous and effective delivery of public service, please be informed that you are hereby designated as Officer-inCharge..." the memo addressed to the two new OICs stated.
Salalima resigned last September allegedly due to corruption in the agency. However, Duterte said he had asked Salalima to step down due to conflict of interest.
Ubial, meanwhile, is the fifth member of Duterte's cabinet to be rejected by the CA. She follows Perfecto Yasay, Gina Lopez, Judy Taguiwalo, and Rafael Mariano.
USecValle A Davao City native, Valle became Daly City, California's Seton Hospital's first Filipino Chief of Staff. He holds a medical degree from the Far Eastern University and held residences and internships in New York and the Philippines.
Valle is also a US Air Force reservist with a rank of colonel and is an Operation Desert Storm veteran. Operation Desert Storm was waged by coalition forces of 35 nations against Iraq in response to the country’s invasion and annexation of Kuwait.
USec Rio Rio, meanwhile, is DICT's Undersecretary for Special Concerns. He is also one of the pioneering officials of the government's newest agency.
The Tapaz, Capiz native, who originally applied to be the first DICT Secretary, took military schooling in the Philippines, India, Germany, Australia, and Hawaii between 1969 and 1999.
He held several positions in the Armed Forces of the Philippines' Research and Development Center, and was assigned to the Communication Company of the 4th Infantry Division in Mindanao, both in the late 1960s.
He was designated as Defense and Armed Forces attaché to Malaysia from April, 1992 to November, 1995.
He retired from the AFP with the rank of Brigadier General on October 27, 2000, before he was appointed by former President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo as Commissioner of the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) in February, 2001.
He also became consultant of Globe Telecom from 2006 to 2012 and a member of the board of Bayan Telecommunications from 2004 to 2006.
He was selected the "Most Outstanding Professional in the Field of Electronics and Communication for the Year 2002" by the Philippine Professional Regulation Commission (PRC).