Duterte names Quitain as new chief legal counsel

MANILA – President Rodrigo Duterte has appointed Jesus Melchor Vega Quitain as the new Chief Presidential Legal Counsel.

“In-appoint din ng Pangulo si (The President has appointed) Jesus Melchor Vega Quitain bilang kanyang (as his) Chief Presidential Legal Counsel,” Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque said in a Palace press briefing on Tuesday.

Quitain will replace Salvador Panelo who is running for senator in the 2022 elections.

Prior to his appointment, Quitain was the officer in charge of the Office of the Special Assistant to the President (OSAP).

He also served as Davao City administrator during Duterte’s term as city mayor.

However, Roque said Duterte has yet to replace former Department of Information and Communications Secretary Gregorio Honasan II and former Department of Agrarian Reform Secretary John Castriciones who are both running for senator.

He also confirmed that Bases Conversion and Development Authority (BCDA) president and Chief Executive Officer Vivencio “Vince” Dizon has resigned from his post effective October 15.

Dizon will remain as deputy chief implementer of the National Task Force Against Covid-19 and the country’s testing czar in charge of overseeing the government’s testing efforts amid the coronavirus pandemic.

“Secretary Vince has asked the President to unload him of this task so that he can focus full-time on the national government’s Covid response efforts and vaccination rollout,” Roque said.

Under Dizon’s term, the BCDA earned PHP48 billion in revenues in only five years, the highest by far of any administration.