A SACKED commissioner of the Presidential Commission for the Urban Poor (PCUP), who happens to be the cousin of President Rodrigo Duterte's partner Honeylet Avanceña, has secured a new government post.
Duterte on Wednesday, March 7, appointed former PCUP commissioner Melissa Aradanas as deputy secretary general of the Housing and Urban Development Coordinating Council (HUDCC), according to appointment papers released by Malacañang on Friday, March 9.
Aradanas replaced former HUDCC deputy secretary general Patrocinio Jude Esguerra III.
Aradanas was among five PCUP officials axed by Duterte in December last year because of alleged "unnecessary junkets" abroad.
Duterte, in a speech delivered on December 12, confirmed that he sacked Avanceña's cousin, amid his resolve to dismiss government officials with a mere "whiff of corruption."
Apart from Aradanas, Duterte also appointed Monica Teodoro, former Tarlac representative and spouse of former Defense Secretary Gilbert Teodoro as special envoy of the President to the United Nations Children's Fund (Unicef).
Teodoro's term as special emissary to Unicef will expire on September 27, 2018.
The President also picked Bruce Concepcion as special envoy on Transnational Crime. (SunStar Philippines)