Former brigadier general Danilo Lim has been appointed as the new chairman of the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA).
Executive Secretary Salvador Medialdea confirmed Lim’s appointment by Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte.
MMDA officer-in-charge Thomas Orbos, who assumed office in August last year, will remain as general manager, Medialdea noted.
In the 2010, Lim ran for senator elections but lost. In 2011, he was appointed Bureau of Customs deputy commissioner for intelligence but resigned in July 2013 after then President Benigno Aquino III criticized the agency for corruption.
Previous to this, Lim led the failed 1989 coup against the administration of former President Corazon Aquino, and was detained for two years.
In 2006, he was relieved from his post as commander of the First Scout Rangers Regiment for plotting a coup against then President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and was detained from 2006 to 2010 on charges of rebellion and attempted coup d’état.
In May 2010, Lim was given provisional liberty by the military.
Resignations at DoTR
Meanwhile, Department of Transportation (DOTr) assistant secretary and spokesperson Cherie Mercado-Santos has resigned from her post, citing personal reasons.
In a message on her Facebook account, Santos said she couldn’t balance time for her family “with the demands of the job.”
Santos’ resignation follows that of Undersecretary for Aviation Roberto Lim’s, who tendered his irrevocable resignation “in the interest of the Department that has given me new learnings, and experiences.”
Aside from Lim, undersecretary for planning Rommel Gavieta, undersecretary for legal and procurement Raoul Creencia, and undersecretary for rails Noel Kintanar have also earlier left the agency.
Kintanar, who was the first newly appointed transport official to resign when he quit last year, said his resignation was to give Transportation Secretary Arthur Tugade “a free hand in addressing any and all misconceptions or doubts as to the impartiality and independence of the DOTr in addressing the many issues and concerns on transportation.”
