Another ex-AFP officer gets government post

MANILA, Philippines — Another former military general has joined the Duterte government, this time as deputy chief of the National Irrigation Administration (NIA).

President Duterte has appointed retired Maj. Gen. Romeo Gan as the new NIA deputy administrator for administration and finance.

Gan, a former commander of the Army’s 2nd Infantry Jungle Fighter Division, replaced Estrella Icasiano following her resignation earlier this month.

Icasiano served as the officer-in-charge when former NIA chief Peter Tiu Laviña was dismissed due to corruption issues.

Gan was recognized as one of the affiliates of Philippine Military Academy Class 1983 and became commander of Civil Relations Service of the Armed Forces of the Philippines.

Before his designation as civil relations chief, Gan served as the assistant division commander of the 6th Infantry Division in Maguindanao.

“After his service and crucial developmental role in nation building and security, Gan is set to help again the administration to attain a rice self-sufficient nation thru effective and efficient irrigation systems,” the NIA said.

With the appointment, Gan will join his classmates Ricardo Visaya and Abraham Bagasin of the Philippine Military Academy Class of 1983.

Visaya is NIA administrator while Bagasin is NIA senior deputy administrator, who were respectively appointed last March and May.

NIA is under the Office of the President being supervised by Cabinet Secretary Leoncio Evasco.