Laviña moved to DA

MANILA - President Rodrigo Duterte has transferred Undersecretary Jose Gabriel "Pompee" Laviña from the Department of Tourism (DOT) to Department of Agriculture (DA).

In an appointment paper dated June 6, Duterte tapped Laviña as replacement of Bernadette Fatima Romulo-Puyat, who was formerly from DA but now serves as the DOT chief.

Laviña's appointment paper was released by Malacañang on Thursday, June 7.

Laviña was part of Duterte's communication team for his 2016 presidential campaign.

It was not the first time Laviña was reappointed by Duterte, despite controversies hounding the former.

To recall, Duterte ordered Laviña in February to immediately step down

from office as commissioner of the Social Security System (SSS) since the latter was serving in a hold-over capacity.

Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque Jr. had revealed that Duterte did not renew Laviña's term of office at the stateowned pension fund because of his supposed demands for a multi-million peso projects and vilification campaign against four SSS executives.

But in April, Duterte reappointed Laviña as Tourism undersecretary.

Duterte has been firing various high-ranking officials linked to corruption in government.

The President's anti-corruption drive, however, was questioned by some of his critics, including ousted Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno, who believe that it was a mere publicity stunt.

In an interview with Palace reporters on Thursday, June 7, Roque said the decision to reappoint Laviña was an "executive prerogative" and an "exception to the rule."

"It is not the rule; It is the exception to the rule," the Palace official said.

"As far as Mr. Laviña is concerned, that is really his prerogative. There was an investigation. He was removed but the President made the decision to reappoint him. And so be it," he added. SunStar Philippines