By Moira Encina
Eagle News Service
President Rodrigo Duterte has appointed four new high-ranking officials at the Department of Justice.
In a statement, the DOJ said the President appointed lawyers Emmeline Aglipay-Villar, Adrian Sugay, Mark Perete as undersecretaries; and Neal Vincent Bainto as assistant secretary upon the recommendation of Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra.
Villar, Sugay and Perete replace as undersecretaries Raymund Mecate, Erickson Balmes and Reynante Orceo; while Bainto replaces Assistant Secretary Juvy Manwong.
Mecate, Balmes, Orceo and Manwong have tendered their courtesy resignations, which President Duterte has accepted.
According to the DOJ, Villar, who obtained her law degree from the University of the Philippines in 2006, was a member of the House of Representatives prior to her appointment to the DOJ.
Sugay, a graduate of law at the Ateneo de Manila University, was a partner at De Borja, Medialdea, Bello, Guevarra and Serapio Law offices at one time, and worked as special assistant to the corporate head at Philippine Ports Authority.
Perete was a legal counsel in a multinational company while Bainto was a senior associate at the Villaraza and Anganco Law offices prior to their appointments.
Perete is a law graduate of UP, and Bainto of Ateneo.
