MANILA–President Benigno Aquino has named Governor Josephine Ramirez Sato as head of the Regional Development Council of the National Economic Development Authority in the Mimaropa Region.

Deputy presidential spokesperson Abigail Valte announced Sato’s appointment over state-run dzRB radio, along with several other appointees like filmmaker Mel Chionglo and entertainment editor Jo Ann Mag-lipon, both as members of the Movie Television Review and Classification Board (MTRCB).

San Fernando, Pampanga Mayor Oscar Rodriquez, meanwhile, was named RDC chairman of Central Luzon. Dr. Roberto Ramirez is his co-chairman.

The RDC is the highest policy-making body in the region and serves as the counterpart of the NEDA Board at the subnational level.  It  is the primary institution that coordinates and sets the direction of all economic and social development efforts in the region.

Sato, 56, is in her fifth term as governor of Occidental Mindoro. She is currently the secretary general of the League of Provinces of the Philippines, whose national president is Oriental Mindoro Governor Alfonso Umali, Jr.

Sato also served as vice governor of the province for four years until 1992 and in 2001 won the congressional race to represent the lone district of Occidental Mindoro in the 12th Congress.

A law graduate from the University of the Philippines, she obtained her post-graduate studies in International Law and Taxation at the Harvard University School of Law and Urban Studies and Planning at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Meanwhile, Malacañang is also beefing up its communications force by appointing Reginald Tongol as director of the  Presidential Communications Development and Strategic Planning Office, an office under the Presidential Communications Group that ensures all the President’s activities are covered.

Mariano Augustine Rodriquez will serve as acting director of the Philippine Broadcasting Service, Philippine Information Agency and Presidential Communications Operations Office.

Valte also announced the appointment of lawyer Victoriano S. Muring, Jr. as  executive director of the MTRCB. Former UP vice president for academic affairs Maria Serena Diokno will serve as member of the board for private sector of the National Historical Commission of the Philippines and Abraham P. Sakili as member of the NHCP board.

Also appointed were Ester C. Aldana, assistant secretary of the Department of Interior and Local Government; Nora Oliveros, Deputy Executive Secretary for Finance;  Jesus Appelado, Jr., Register of Deeds in Region 3.

Felix Marinas, Jr., Maria Juanita Montalvan, Avelino Madaje Jr. and Tomas Austral Sr., all of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources, were appointed as members of the Board of Directors of the DENR-run Bukidnon Forest Inc., an enterprise which operates a 21,000-hectare industrial forest plantation in the Northern Mindanao province.