Benjamin “Benhur” Abalos Jr. is the incoming Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) secretary of presumptive president Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr.
Read more here: https://mb.com.ph/2022/05/13/abalos-gets-dilg-post-marcos-transition-team-members-named/
Abalos, who was the second Marcos Cabinet nominee to be publicly revealed after presumptive vice president Sara Duterte, previously served as chairman of the Metro Manila Development Authority (MMDA) from 2021 to 2022.
He has been a member of the ruling party Partido Demokratiko Pilipino-Lakas ng Bayan (PDP-Laban) since 2017.
He is a former three-term mayor of Mandaluyong City (2007 to 2016) and representative of Mandaluyong in the Lower House during the 13th Congress.
He relinquished his role as the MMDA chairman in February 2022 in order to become Marcos’s campaign manager.
His wife, Carmelita “Menchie” Abalos, ran for Mandaluyong vice mayor in the recent May 9 polls unopposed. She served as Mandaluyong mayor from 2016 to 2022.
Meanwhile, Abalos’s father–Benjamin Abalos Sr.– was elected as new mayor of the city in the same polls.
Read more here: https://mb.com.ph/2022/05/10/after-24-years-abalos-sr-returns-as-mandaluyong-mayor/
The DILG, which Abalos is slated to lead, is tasked with enforcing peace, order, and public safety, and empowering local government units (LGUs). The agency also has supervisory function over the Philippine National Police (PNP) via the National Police Commission (Napolcom).