PRESIDENT Rodrigo Duterte has officially appointed Senator Gregorio Honasan II as the new secretary of the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT).

Duterte signed Honasan's appointment paper on November 20, 11 days after the lawmaker accepted the position in the executive branch.

Honasan replaced acting DICT Secretary Eliseo Rio Jr.

Honasan, whose second term will end in June 2019, is the second senator to vacate his post at the Senate to be part of Duterte's Cabinet. In May 2017, former Foreign Affairs secretary Alan Peter Cayetano left the Senate to head the Department of Foreign Affairs.

Honasan and Cayetano's departure has trimmed the number of incumbent senators to 22.

Honasan's nomination as DICT chief needs to be approved by the Commission on Appointments.

A graduate from the Philippine Military Academy Class 1971, Honasan set up the Reform the Armed Forces Movement, which recruited soldiers to rebel against the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos.

He was also part of coup attempts against former President Corazon Aquino.

Earlier, Malacañang welcomed Honasan as "official family" of the Duterte administration and expressed hope that he would be able to fulfill his mandate as the new DICT secretary. (SunStar Philippines)