PGMA names Defensor, Quevedo and two others to important posts

President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo appointed former Quezon City Congressman Michael "Mike" T. Defensor as acting chairman of the Philippine National Railways and Cotabato Archbishop Orlando V. Quevedo as chairman for the Presidential Task Force for the Mindanao River Basin Rehabilitation and Development.

Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita said in his weekly press briefing yesterday that President Arroyo had signed the appointment papers of Defensor and Quevedo, and three others on various dates. Their appointments will take effect upon their receipt of their respective appointments.

Defensor prior to his appointment was named by the President on June 19, 2008 as head of the Presidential Task Force on the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) Terminal 3 to ensure the immediate opening and operation of NAIA III based on the decisions of the Supreme Court and applicable laws.

Bishop Quevedo was ordained to the priesthood on Oct. 28, 1980 at the Cathedral of Kidapawan in North Cotabato.

Eighteen years later he was appointed as archbishop of Cotabato on May 30, 1998, a post he holds up to the present.

The other new appointees were Jose D. Mamaril as chief superintendent of the Bureau of Fire Protection, and Sancho S. Buquing as the new regional director for the National Commission of Indigenous Peoples.