Gambala, Maestrecampo lead new batch of Duterte appointees

Former Deputy Customs Commissioner Gerardo Gambala and former Custom’s Import Assessment Services Director Milo Maestrecampo were appointed by President Rodrigo Duterte to the Department of Transportation (DoTr). (ACE MORANDANTE/PRESIDENTIAL PHOTO)

MANILA — Two former Bureau of Customs (BOC) officials who were questioned in the Senate regarding corruption in the agency, as part of the bigger probe on the controversial PHP 6.4-billion shabu shipment in the country, were among the latest batch of Presidential appointees this November.

Former Deputy Customs Commissioner Gerardo Gambala and former Custom’s Import Assessment Services Director Milo Maestrecampo were appointed by President Rodrigo Duterte to the Department of Transportation (DoTr).

The two former military officers resigned from the BOC after being accused of allegedly accepting grease money from traders to facilitate the release of imported goods.

Gambala was appointed Director IV at the DoTR’s Office of Transportation Security (OTS), while Maestrecampo was appointed as Assistant Director General II of the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP).

Their appointment papers were signed by Duterte last November 6 but were released by Malacañang only on Friday.

Meanwhile, also included in the latest batch of appointees were: Rolando Enrique D. Domingo and Carolina Vidal Taiño as Undersecretaries at the Department of Health (DOH); as well as Lyndon Lugtu Lee Suy as DOH Assistant Secretary.

Other appointees were: Alexander Leaño Macario as Assistant Secretary at the Department of the Interior and Local Government; Mito-on Malindato Ibra as Director IV of the National Commission on Muslim Filipinos; Antonio Partoza Jr. as a member of the Board of Trustees in the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration representing the land-based recruitment sector.

The appointment papers of three ambassadors were also included in the batch of papers signed by President Duterte on November 6.

They were: Jocelyn Batoon-Garcia as Ambassador to the Kingdom of Norway, with concurrent jurisdiction over the Republic of Iceland, the Kingdom of Denmark, the Republic of Finland, and the Kingdom of Sweden; Denis Yap Lepatan as Ambassador to Switzerland, with concurrent jurisdiction over the Principality of Liechtensen; and Eduardo Jose Atienza de Vega as Ambassador to the Kingdom of Belgium, the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, the Commission of the European Communities, and the Council of the European Union.

In the meantime, Jesus Clint Ocdinaria Aranas was named a member of the Board of Trustees of the Government Service Insurance System.

His appointment papers were signed by Duterte on November 7.