By Argyll Cyrus Geducos
President Duterte has transferred Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) Undersecretary Jacinto "Jing" Paras to the Presidential Legislative Liaison Office (PLLO) as the new Presidential Legislative Assistant.
President Rodrigo Roa Duterte (ACE MORANDANTE / PRESIDENTIAL PHOTO / FILE PHOTO / MANILA BULLETIN)
Paras' name was on the list of over 100 new presidential appointees from Jan. 8 to 14, 2020, given to members of the media by Malacañang on Monday.
Paras, appointed to DOLE in 2018, earlier claimed that Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III referred to him as a "cobra" in a flag ceremony after he presented an affidavit to Malacañang regarding alleged corruption in the agency.
Paras is also known for filing complaints against government officials seen to be part of "destabilization" efforts against the President. He helped put together the impeachment complaint against former Commission on Elections (Comelec) chairman Andres Bautista, citing his estranged wife Patricia, over the 2016 elections data breach.
He also filed a case against former Overall Deputy Ombudsman Arthur Carandang for his supposedly "unlawful disclosure" of the Duterte family's bank transactions. He then accused former Ombudsman Conchita Carpio Morales of masterminding "maneuvers" against the President.
Paras was also reported to be the textmate of former Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre II during a Senate hearing in 2017. Their conversation, captured on camera, showed Aguirre asking Paras to expedite a case against Sen. Risa Hontiveros, a known critic of the President.
In 2001, during his stint as 1st district representative of Negros Oriental, Paras was named a member of the so-called "Gang of Five" that reportedly received P2 million to delay a congressional inquiry into the collusion of telecommunication companies Globe and Smart over the reduction of free text messages.
Belmonte to NAPC
President Duterte also named former National Parks Development Committee (NPDC) Executive Director Penelope Belmonte deputy director-general at the National Anti-Poverty Commission.
In 2018, the former Parks chief was flagged by the Commission on Audit (COA) for her supposedly "excessive, irregular, and unsupported expenditures" worth P7.5 million.
The COA reported that Belmonte spent P562,200 for "tailoring services to create the design and produce the uniform" of officers and employees of the Department of Tourism-attached NPDC.
COA also flagged P3.7 million in payments to performing artists for events in different parks; and P2.2 million for the purchase of computers, air conditioning units, brush cutters, water tanks, and payments for a website developer and an electrical rehabilitation service.
State auditors also cited P476,000 professional fees for a lawyer and P380,000 excess in travel expenses to Singapore, Russia, and China.
Exconde to HSAC
Meanwhile, Duterte also named former Justice Undersecretary Fidel Exconde Jr. a commissioner of the Human Settlements Adjudication Commission of the new Department of Human Settlements and Urban Development.
Paras, Belmonte, and Exconde were all appointed on Jan. 8.