President Benigno Aquino III has appointed Atty. Andre Palacios as the new executive director of the Public-Private Partnership (PPP) Center, replacing Cosette Canilao who resigned in January over “pressing family concerns.”
Canilao, whose resignation takes effect March 8, had recommended Palacios to replace her.
Palacios took his oath of office before Socioeconomic Planning Secretary and Director General of National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) Emmanuel F. Esguerra with former executive director Canilao. The PPP Center, mandated to facilitate the implementation of the country’s PPP program and projects and is the central coordinating and monitoring agency for all PPP projects in the Philippines, is an attached agency of NEDA.
Palacios has served as a technical adviser to the PPP Center since January 2015. Before this, he was general counsel for the Millennium Challenge Account Philippines and assistant secretary at the Office of the Chief Presidential Legal Counsel from March 2003 to May 2004.
The new PPP Center head, who specializes in international law and corporate law, earned his law degree from the University of the Philippines College of Law and placed fifth in the 1998 Bar Examinations. He also holds a Master of Laws in International Law, with merit, from the University of London.
